95% of Remote Workers are Streaming Content While Working

The pandemic has changed the way people approach working for the foreseeable future. Remote work has become the norm since. Working from home has become an important benefit that people look for when applying for jobs, for many different reasons. Many are seeking improved work-life balance, having work better suit their lifestyle, and for many, the freedom and flexibility in how they approach their workday.

We wanted to understand how remote workers are handling this new, found freedom and flexibility in their work day in regards to how the easy access to endless libraries of content to stream has integrated into their workday.

To do this, we surveyed 1,000 remote workers regarding how frequently remote employees are streaming content, what kind of content they are streaming, why they are streaming during the work day, how they have prioritized streaming over their work, and the consequences they have faced when caught streaming.

Key Findings

• 95% of remote workers reported streaming content while working, with 50% admitting they stream movies during work hours
• 42% of remote employees are streaming content while working for at least 11.7 hours / week, or 23% of their work year
• 50% of WFH employees admitted to streaming movies during work hours.
• Nearly 1 in 5 employees said they stream content during the workday because they feel underpaid.
• More than 25% of employees have prioritized streaming over their work by watching during a meeting, rescheduling meetings, or even being late to work
• 55% of employees have been caught streaming while working - more than a third of which have faced repercussions such as warnings, demotions, suspensions, or even termination

Truths About Streaming

It’s certainly easy to assume that most people stream content or surf the web during their workday if they’re working remotely. With the way most jobs are done these days, it’s safe to say that people have built personal time into their day-to-day schedule and generally have figured out how to do it effectively without impacting productivity.

While it’s certainly not surprising that there are people who stream content during their workday, how many people actually do it and how often? Read on to see what our respondents said about this in the first part of our survey.

Interestingly enough, 95% of respondents said they stream some sort of content while at work. That may not be surprising to some, but it’s certainly notable that almost every person we surveyed said they do stream some content during the workday. How much, though? The highest number of hours per day that respondents reported streaming was three to four (39%), with 35% saying they stream content for one to two hours a day. Per week, the most common response was three to four days (41%), followed by five or more (33%).

Nearly half of employees said they stream three hours during the workday, at least three days per week. This adds up to almost twelve workweeks worth of streaming content per year. It’s certainly evident that people are streaming while at work, but what exactly are they watching?

Workday Content

Even before the pandemic, people were apparently watching so much Netflix at work that a Chrome extension was created to help hide Netflix from a boss while in the office. Of course, that’s not necessary while working remotely, and people can stream whatever they want, generally speaking, without fear of getting busted.

So what exactly are people streaming most commonly? Let’s find out in the next part of our survey.

50% of respondents admitting to watching movies during the workday, by far the most common type of content workers watched. Outside of movies:

• 40% stream TV shows
• 38% watch live content via live tv streaming services
• 32% watched video games
• 29% stream live sports without the need for cable

The top on demand video streaming services reported being used by remote workers when watching movies was Netflix was the top streaming service for movies (52%), followed by Amazon Prime Video (44%). TV shows were the second most common streamed content at 40%, while 38% said they watched live TV. A notable 33% of respondents said they streamed content primarily on a work device.

Believe it or not, respondents had many reasons for streaming content during the workday, and it wasn’t just because they wanted to. In fact, 68% said they stream content at work because it actually makes their workday more enjoyable, while 65% found it relaxing. Forty-four percent even said they do it because it makes them more focused. And interestingly enough, 85% of respondents who stream reported moderate to high job satisfaction.

Getting Caught

The last several years have seen an evolution when it comes to how employees view multitasking at work. Especially since the pandemic, the metric has become results and effectiveness, rather than putting emphasis on what someone does every single second of their workday.

That said, some people still get caught streaming content while working, and depending on your boss and employer, there may still be consequences for doing so. We wanted to get a sense of what our respondents’ experiences have been in that regard, and the results were pretty eye-opening.

Just over half (55%) of the respondents in our survey said they’ve been caught streaming content at work, and the majority seem to have faced some kind of consequence as a result. Thirty-five percent of all employees had received a written warning for it, while 32% had received a verbal warning. Surprisingly, a total of 26% WFH employees received a demotion for getting caught streaming at work, while 18% were suspended. This speaks to the fact that there are many employees risking it all to stream just a little bit longer, considering about 1 in 10 WFH employees have been terminated due to their streaming habits.

How far will employees go to stream the content they love? Twenty-eight percent said they actually have streamed a show during a meeting, while 26% said they accidentally missed a meeting altogether because they were caught up in a TV show they were streaming.

Working and Streaming From Home

While it’s no surprise that most people have streamed something while working from home, it’s fascinating to get a sense of what exactly people are streaming during the workday and what consequences they’ve faced for getting caught. Employers who still penalize workers for streaming content at work may have to reevaluate their position on these matters, as remote work becomes even more commonplace, as there certainly seems to be a correlation between people’s job satisfaction and the fact that they watch TV, movies, and other content during the day.

As attitudes around working change and work-life balance becomes more of a priority for people, there’s no question that workers will be streaming more in the future while on the job.

As streaming continues to play a bigger and bigger role in our lives, you can keep up with the latest in streaming news, reviews, and deals with The Streamable. Find out how and where you can watch your favorite shows and movies from your couch, your desk, or wherever! (If you choose to watch at work, we promise we won’t tell).

Methodology and Limitations

The Streamable surveyed 1,000 work from home employees about streaming and watching tv while working from home and on the job. The margin of error was 3% on a 95% confidence interval. Survey data has certain limitations related to self-reporting. These limitations include telescoping, exaggeration, and selective memory.

Fair Use Statement

If you’re an employee who thrives on Netflix binging and you enjoyed our study, you’re welcome to share it. We just ask that you link back to the findings and that your purposes are noncommercial.