How Americans Are Taking Care of Themselves During Quarantine
Often used as a recruitment tool, remote work is a perk that many employees cherish. But when it becomes a day-to-day reality as it has in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak, how do employees cope?
It’s inevitable that with the sudden change comes a bevy of disrupted habits and routines in employees’ work lives. As workdays take on new forms, it’s only natural that change extends to personal lives as well, including hygiene and beauty habits. To learn about those changes, we surveyed 1,451 employees who are working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.
When it comes to getting ready for work, many respondents say they’re keeping up with their daily routines, but others are letting them fall to the wayside: one in five admit to brushing their teeth less than normal while one in three say they’re showering and doing laundry less often. Other changes in routine have led to over half (54%) becoming concerned about potential weight gain during quarantine. The top reasons? Being less physically active (44%), having easier access to food (37%), and eating more to cope with anxiety (19%).
We found that an overwhelming majority (91%) say they dress more casually while working from home. Their approach to hair and makeup has also become increasingly casual: 61 percent say they’re doing their hair less and just 19 percent are regularly wearing makeup. However, we found that this does change drastically when interacting with coworkers on video. Half of respondents said they dress up more for video calls and of those that wear makeup, almost half (46%) put it on for the camera. Two in five have even gone so far as to alter the background of their video calls in order to make their home look more presentable to their colleagues.