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Research Outline

Prepared for Olivia H. | Delivered November 23, 2020

Working from Home Research

Goals

To understand how people in the U.S. work from home. Specifically, to find out what types of homes they are working in, where they sit while they work, what their work space set-up is like, how much physical space they are using while working, how many people are working with them, and anything else that has to do with how people use their physical space to work from home, including the pain points of working from home. Both quantitative and qualitative information can be provided and should be pulled from sources such as studies and surveys. Sources that break this information down in terms of demographics should be provided as well.

Early Findings

A survey of 4,384 people living in the U.S. and working from home was conducted in August 2020. The survey revealed the following information about physical work spaces:
  • Only 36% of respondents have a dedicated work space in their home.
  •  34% are working from their kitchen, bedroom or living room, 18% are working in a room they converted into an office space, 18% are working in a pre-existing home office space, 13% work in random places around their home, 1% are working in a space they rent outside of their home, and 16% are working in some other type of space.
  •  29% live alone, 22% live with their family (parents or other relatives), 16% live with their partner and have no kids, 12% live with their partner and have kids, 10% live with friends/roommates, and 11% have some other type of living arrangement.
  • Among survey respondents who feel the happiest working from home, 69% have a dedicated work space.
  • When asked what their work-from-home must haves are, the following responses were given: stable internet connection (64%), a proper desk (59%), a proper chair (56%), a dedicated workspace (47%), privacy (41%), multiple screens (36%), a dedicated room (24%), noise-canceling headphones (21%), nothing (11%), other (3%).
  • When asked what's missing from the current work-from-home setup, the following responses were given: stable internet connection (19%), a proper desk (31%), a proper chair (31%), a dedicated workspace (28%), privacy (27%), multiple screens (18%), a dedicated room (27%), noise-canceling headphones (12%), nothing (26%), and other (3%).
  • When asked what changes people intend to make regarding their current home office set-up (31% plan to make changes), the following answers were given: rent or buy a larger home (58%), buy better office equipment (26%), convert an existing room into an office space (21%), improve their internet connection (20%), buy professional quality office furniture (18%), and find a workspace outside of their home (6%).