Worker stress is nothing new, but with the new pressures this year of being in lockdown and adjusting to working from home, many people are using their company time to relieve that stress in the best way they know how — sexually. According to a survey by online gift retailer Yellow Octopus, for many employees around the world, when stress kicks in, working from home can get a little wild.
After surveying 1,000 workers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, Yellow Octopus found that more than one in five people had sex during company time while telecommuting — 26 percent of which were men and 19 percent were women. Sex during the workday was most common among employees 18 to 24 (27.7 percent), though even 13.9 percent of those 65 to 74 admitted to doing the deed when on the clock.
“[It’s] Like I just got paid to masturbate. I felt grateful….”
And the people getting freaky while working from home sound pretty happy about it. As one survey participant proclaimed, “I received oral sex while on a conference call.” Another was quoted as saying, “[It’s] Like I just got paid to masturbate. I felt grateful and slightly guilty.”
This worker was among the 17 percent of women and 35 percent of men who admitted to masturbating while on the clock. However, most of them reported that they did not feel guilty for their daytime diddling.
Not surprisingly, porn was on the calendar for many of the people Yellow Octopus surveyed, with 33.9 percent of men and 11.3 percent of women admitting that they watched porn while working from home. Those who wanted a more interactive experience — 5.4 percent — said they used videoconferencing programs to have sexually charged conversations with a coworker.

From Lust to Liquid Lunch“I have been intoxicated NUMEROUS times while working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic!”
Sex isn’t the only non-work activity employees are getting into while working from home. Yellow Octopus also found that about 40 percent of people were drinking during work hours — with one respondent claiming, “I have been intoxicated NUMEROUS times while working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic!” The beverage of choice was by far beer (42.8 percent), though people also grabbed wine (28.7 percent), hard liquor (15.6 percent), mixed drinks (10.8 percent), and even champagne (.2 percent).
Office Encounters Likely to Resume
Although being at home may loosen some workers’ inhibitions, prior research from Yellow Octopus suggests that when people are eventually able to go back to the office post-pandemic, they aren’t going to be any less frisky. In that survey of 1,000 people, the company found that one in ten workers had sex while on the job — usually after hours (72 percent), though some did it during regular work hours (36 percent) while others were early birds catching the worm before the office opened (17 percent). Most of these workplace trysts involved intercourse, though oral sex, and partner masturbation were also common. Only 14 percent of them reported getting caught during their workplace encounters.
Additionally, there was a lot of self-service going on among survey respondents, with 5 percent of women and 13 percent of men saying they had masturbated at work. Most of them were repeat offenders: While 22 percent said this was a one-and-done affair, 38 percent had diddled themselves at work two to five times, and 40 percent had done it six or more times. However, they didn’t need any inspiration of the pornographic variety to do it, as most people in the survey were more likely to masturbate than watch porn on the job.