Here’s an interesting little study from out friends across the pond that states 53% of UK employees who play Pokemon Go admit to doing so during working hours. 43% say they play up to three hours and 27% play between three and five hours at work a week. 15% say they play the game at work for seven or more hours every week.
Qualtrics, one of the world’s largest specialists in employee engagement, surveyed 500 British Pokemon Go players. The game appeals across the board, regardless of age, gender or educational level. The majority (58%) had played Pokemon in the past, but for 42% it was a new experience.
According to the research, not only are UK workers relaxed about playing Pokemon Go at work, they would be happy to share their love of Pokemon Go with their bosses too. 33% said they would be proud to tell their employers that they play and only 5% said they would be embarrassed to do so. 40% are neither proud nor embarrassed.
Furthermore, players are far less concerned about playing Pokemon Go at work than they are about trespassing on private land while doing so. Only one in four (21%) admit to trespassing while 79% claim not to have trespassed on private land to play the game.
Alarmingly, people who regularly play thought that up to 60% of their fellow gamers play while driving. 1 in 10 players confessed to having been stopped by Police while playing the game when driving.
Pokemon Go outstrips any other game for popularity. It is twice as popular as Angry Birds and 50% more popular than Candy Crush. 90% play Pokemon Go on their smartphones.
With the majority of UK employees not tied to their offices*, Pokemon Go is likely to be more of an issue for employers whose staff are at greater liberty to work outside the office than for those who are desk bound. According to Qualtrics, the game poses different challenges that depend on employer outlook.
Says Ian McVey, UK Director, Qualtrics:
“With successive generations of the game yet to come, employers are now starting to take a longer view of its effects on employee productivity. They will be weighing up the balances between workplace flexibility and security, for mobile, home and office based workers. That said, consumer technology may have a significant role to play in workplace learning and development. Pokemon Go can be said to have merit in using a sense of fun with which to introduce the concept of augmented and virtual reality”.
Qualtrics also asked a similar sample in Germany the same questions. Only 38% of German employees admit to playing Pokemon Go at work (15% fewer than in the UK) and 61% say they do not. The findings echoed those of global Qualtrics Productivity research conducted In May which found that Germans have the highest self-perception of their productivity at work. UK workers thought 36% of their working day was unproductive, eight percentage points less productive than German workers.
Finally, despite its popularity, when asked if they would rather have sex or play Pokemon Go, 64% of UK employees chose sex, and 36% opted for Pokemon Go. In Germany, 73% opted for sex, and 27% for Pokemon Go.
*ONS – UK Business Activity
https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/business/activitysizeandlocation/bulletins/ukbusinessactivitysizeandlocation/2015-10-06
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