Hangovers identified as one major cause of changes to remote work hours

Hangovers have been the butt of work jokes for decades. Now, in the world of remote work, they have a direct impact on the company’s bottom line.

According to a new study conducted by Alliance Virtual Offices, frequent hangovers significantly shifted remote work hours during the COVID-19 pandemic.

That’s not all. Another report — published last year by the American Addiction Centers — found that US companies on average lost approximately 5,541 hours of output during the COVID-pandemic due to employee hangovers.

There are numerous remote working distractions

Hangovers aren’t the only problem. Heavy cell phone usage and oversleeping were also ranked as some of the top productivity disruptions among out-of-office employees.

Compulsive phone time actually topped the list, with more than 76% of remote workers confessing that they wanted to change their work hours during the COVID-19 pandemic because they hate wasting time on their phones.

The authors of another recent national survey report that Americans check their phones 262 times per day on average, which translates to roughly once every 5.5 minutes.

“Workers are recognizing that they have more autonomy over their lives than they previously realized. To retain employees and keep them happy, employers will have to up their game,” the authors wrote in the new paper.

What remote workers value  

Surprisingly, the vast majority of employees surveyed prefer remote work not so they can be near family, but because they value working “near nature.”

This makes sense, considering various studies have shown a correlation between working outdoors and increased mood, performance, and output.

More than 80% of supervisors polled said that they plan to change their real-estate strategy within the next year to try and accommodate those who feel less productive in traditional office settings.

“Only 13% of companies expect to make no changes to their real estate strategy within the next year. Over half (61%) plan to consolidate their office spaces into just a few locations, while 58% plan to open more locations,” the authors continued.

Only 4% of workers agreed that they would want to work in their offices full time again if given the choice. However, a hybrid workplace model is preferred by the majority (68%). The researchers at Alliance Virtual Offices theorize that some employees who have to return to their firm’s headquarters may have trouble adapting to a zero-tolerance policy.