Weak Internet Cripples Productivity for ⅓ of Work-from-Home Employees

Lauren Hannula Managing Editor

Updated 22 April 2020

Amidst the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, millions of us are now reliant on our home internet plans to work and study—plans which may not be able to support our changing needs.

WhistleOut surveyed 386 adults who have recently transitioned to working or studying remotely to learn about any internet connectivity issues they may be facing. Here’s what we found.

Weak Internet = Decreased Productivity

More than a third of respondents—35.75%—indicated that a weak or nonexistent internet connection prevented them from getting their work done during the coronavirus crisis.

While one-third of people may seem like relatively few, consider the overall reliance most working adults have on the internet: A whopping 83% of people surveyed said they could only complete half a day’s work—or even less—without a stable and reliable internet connection. If their internet were to suddenly disconnect, 28.5% of respondents said they wouldn’t be able to work or learn at all.

The Hotspot Solution to Weak Internet

Thankfully, there are ways to mitigate a subpar home internet connection. One of the most popular fixes is to use your cell phone’s data plan as an internet source. In fact, 43% of our survey respondents said they had used their smartphone as an internet hotspot since the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Many wireless carriers are stepping in to help in this area, expanding their data and hotspot allowances throughout the pandemic. Verizon, for example, is providing customers an extra 15GB of hotspot data, and T-Mobile is offering 20GB of hotspot to its subscribers.

Methodology

WhistleOut partnered with Pollfish to survey ~400 adults about their experience with their internet connection since the COVID-19 outbreak. All adults in the survey had recently transitioned to working and/or schooling from home.

Lauren Hannula

Managing Editor

Lauren is WhistleOut's Managing Editor. With over 14 years of digital writing and publishing experience, she's developed a passion for breaking down overly complex topics to offer easy, affordable solutions that help make the most of the tech you already have in your pocket. Her work has appeared in industry stalwarts such as CNET, Yahoo! News, and Forbes.

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