UK 
United States
One of the central issues facing the HR function over the course of the pandemic, as professionals have been operating largely from home, has been the impact on work-life balance.
With England currently in another national lockdown, a new study from NordVPN Teams has found that those working from home amid the pandemic put in ten extra hours per week, compared to when they were in the office.
The new data, which was reported by the Daily Mail, uncovered that the average working week has increased by 25% in the UK, which is likely to have a negative impact on work-life balance.
The firm collected data regarding the average usage of its business VPN servers last month and compared it against that of last year, which included pre-coronavirus levels.
NordVPN Teams’ data suggested that whilst pre-quarantine (2020) the average Brit worked a total of nine hours per day, from March this increased to around 11 hours (March – April 2020) – a trend that has reportedly continued into the new year.
Residents in Canada have experienced a similar trend, whilst those the US have seen their days jump from eight hours pre-pandemic to 11 since March 2020. French citizens, who were accustomed to working eight hours in early 2020, saw hours rise to ten per day, before levelling out at nine this year.
Commenting on the survey results, Indre Kadaksyte, a Data Analyst at NordVPN Teams told The Sun. “The differences in data could be related to COVID-19 being handled differently in different countries but also due to the fact that remote work in some countries became a new normal.”
Under current guidance, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ordered people in England to work from home if they can.
The Government website explained: “You can only leave home for work purposes where it is unreasonable for you to do your job from home.
“This includes, but is not limited to, people who work within critical national infrastructure, construction or manufacturing that require in-person attendance,’ the guidance added.
