How employees working from home are balancing their activities

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, September 14, 2022

Summary

Employees working from home have unique challenges in getting work done while often using personal and employer-provided devices. While seeking to balance their work and personal lives, they are also finding new ways to use their devices. A substantial share regularly does TikTok-type work – creating videos for work and personal purposes.

This MetaFAQs reports on the top 10 activities employees that work from home do with their connected devices: smartphones, computers, and tablets. It also identifies which activities are done more often than the average online adult.

Most employees rely on smartphones, stay productive with computers

  • Around the world, most employees working from home use their connected devices to stay in touch, shop, have fun, and get work done
  • They use their various and multiple devices differently
  • Most use computers for their work-related activities
  • Most employees use smartphones for photo-related social activities, personal phone calls, and shopping
  • Computers are used for work email, collaboration, and writing
  • Tablets, when used, are used for passive activities such as watching videos or movies 
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Lawyer Cat and Windows 11 – home PC demand to rise [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, July 16, 2021

What do lawyer cat and Windows 11 have in common?

Embarrassment or fear of humiliation may boost home PC sales. If that doesn’t do it, staying connected and current will encourage home PC users to upgrade.

If you missed it, the “lawyer cat” viral meme recently had its day of fame. A tech-challenged lawyer compelled to participate in a mid-pandemic judicial hearing over Zoom got confused and embarrassed by having his face appear as a cat’s. Webcam software bundled with an older Dell PC featured a filter that changed a person’s image before being displayed through Zoom.

The lawyer cat meme has a connection to the upcoming launch of Microsoft Windows 11. There could be the fear of something going wrong using older PCs, especially those with older bundled software.

The newest version of the venerable operating system will reportedly require more robust hardware than is present in much of the installed base. The final requirements are still in flux. However, Windows 11 is likely to need users to have newer home PCs than what they’re actively using today.

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Communication platforms – fast, now, or visible? [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 12, 2021

The frustrated plea “can you hear me now?” has evolved to include “can you see me now?” During pandemic and suddenly-working-at-home times, video calls have driven home the importance of having a robust, fast, and synchronous connection. Asynchronous activities such as text messaging and email don’t have the same need for speed and an instantaneous persistent connection.

It got me wondering – are people choosing one device over another for communication that demands higher-bandwidth or low-latency connections? Is there an age difference preference for right-now synchronous versus later-on asynchronous communication activities? Furthermore, are there other aspects beyond bandwidth and immediacy that encourage people to choose one device over another for certain types of communications? Are video work meetings, for example, more PC-based than smartphone-based?

So, I investigated our results from TUP/Technology User Profile 2020 to compare how widely communication activities are in regular use. I netted together asynchronous activities separately from synchronous ones. Then, I looked at differences by device type – smartphone, home PC, and tablet. I also looked at differences by age group, knowing that younger adults often have different sensibilities and experiences around communication than older or the oldest adults.

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Device type used most often for communication [MetaFAQs]

There are many ways to communicate with our connected devices – a voice phone call, video one-on-one calls, text messages, emails, and others. Do people use one type of device for every type of communication activity, choose different devices based on the type of activity, or is there a mixture? This MetaFAQs looks at users in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan to see which types of devices (smartphones, PCs, tablets, or some combination) are used the most widely for each of a dozen communication activities.

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Meetings are dead. Long live meetings! Are we digitally transformed yet? [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts – December 17, 2020

During the pandemic and with many employees working from home, much of communicating with coworkers and managers has shifted online. Employees have many options and are using most of them.

Video and online chats by employer size

Employees working for all company sizes are actively using a range of video calling, video conferencing, and group chats. Employees working for larger employers have a higher share who regularly communicate online than among employees with smaller employers.

These communication methods are more entrenched in the US, with most online employees regularly doing at least one of these activities.

Online employees in the UK are almost as actively communicating as Americans are. In Japan, however, the shares among both larger and smaller employers are lower than in the US, UK, or Germany.

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Smart displays barely visible [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 7, 2020

Are smart displays making any headway?

With videoconferencing entering the mainstream and getting a recent boost during pandemic stay-at-home orders, there was a possibility that smart displays would get broad market acceptance. Based on our most recent research results in TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, market penetration is still quite small.

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Employee’s video calls/meetings by device type [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 3, 2020

Employees are busy having video calls, meetings, and group chats and are using a wide range of devices. While smartphones are a top platform, home PCs, work PCs, and even tablets are regularly used. There are some differences by employer size and country. This MetaFAQs reports on the devices used for video calls/conferences by employer organization size and device type.

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Employees in video calls/conferences by employer size [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 30, 2020

Meetings! They don’t stop because of video conferencing, video calls, or group chats. This MetaFAQs details the share of employees who regularly connect online using smartphones, PCs, tablets, or even game consoles. The results are split out by employer size to show whether there is a difference between smaller or larger employers.

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Work meeting types by employer size [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 28, 2020

How do employees communicate for work-related matters? Do they make video calls or group video conferences, such as those over Zoom or Webex? Is there a difference for employees of smaller as compared to larger organizations? This MetaFAQs reports on how many online employees communicate for work by type, country, and employer organization size.

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Apple MacBooks and Windows notebooks used differently by Americans [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 9, 2020

Are notebooks really that different from each other? Do users use a Windows notebook differently than users of Apple MacBook? This MetaFAQs looks at the regular activities being done with both types to address this question.

About MetaFAQs

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.