Colleague confessions | Office workers admit turning off webcam on calls to hide this

For those that work either hybrid or fully remotely, they will be used to having video calls on a daily basis to catch up with colleagues.

New research has found that a whopping three-quarters of UK office workers (76%) have admitted to turning off their webcam on video calls to hide what they are doing.

According to the data from sales enablement technology firm, Showpad, as part of its international State of Selling study, this figure rises to 85% for workers under the age of 24-years-old.

What workers say they are getting up to

Showpad’s research shed light on what workers have confessed to getting up to behind the blank screen.

More than half (57%) admitted to turning their screens off so that they could play on their phones, with 43% specifically ‘looking at social media’. Others (48%) have confessed to going out of the room to either make food or grab a drink.

While an employee might be forgiven for getting a drink in the middle of a long call, the data did show that others are stretching the boundaries of what is deemed to be acceptable.