Datastream
Sorry, You’re on Mute: The Top Challenges of Working From Home
The Briefing
- The majority of full-time employees in the U.S. are currently working from home. As a result, more people than ever are using video conferencing to communicate with coworkers
- While a third of people surveyed prefer video conferencing over teleconferencing, technical difficulties and virtual etiquette are a major pain point among remote workers
- Being interrupted or talked over is the top complaint, followed by background distractions and audio issues
The Top Work From Home Challenges
In 2020, people are using video meetings 50% more than they did before COVID-19.
According to a recent survey by Owl Labs, this shift to video conferencing has been both good and challenging—while 79% of survey respondents believe video conferencing is just as productive (if not, more productive) than in-person meetings, many of the struggles remote workers face are related to video conferencing issues:
Challenge | % of Respondents |
---|---|
Being interrupted or talked over | 62% |
Background distractions from other participants | 59% |
Audio quality in video conferencing | 57% |
Staying focused | 57% |
Video quality in video conferencing | 56% |
Internet speed / connectivity | 52% |
Meeting setup | 50% |
Because of these challenges, 80% of respondents believe there should be at least one day a week with no virtual meetings.
Working From Home is Worth the Struggle
Despite the challenges that come with remote work, 77% of respondents believe that, when COVID is over, the option to work from home would make them happier.
Why? Money could be a big factor—people are saving approximately $500 per month by working from home.
But remote workers aren’t just saving money, they’re also saving time. By working remotely, employees save an average of 40 minutes per day on their typical commute—that’s 3 hours and 20 minutes a week!
Clearly, the struggles of working from home are worth it—half of the respondents say they would not return to a job that doesn’t offer remote work after COVID-19.
»Want to learn more about how companies and employees are adjusting to WFH Life? Read our full-length article: How People and Companies Feel About Working Remotely
Where does this data come from?
Source: State of Remote Work 2020
Note: This is the 4th annual “State of Remote Work” report by Owl Labs
Datastream
Charted: The Ukraine War Civilian Death Toll
Using data from the UN, this chart shows civilian death toll figures resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Briefing
- In total, since the war began in February there have been over 7,031 Ukrainian civilian deaths
- Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons, such as missiles and heavy artillery
Charted: The Ukraine War Civilian Death Toll
Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine has wrought suffering and death on a mass scale, with many Russian attacks targeted at civilians.
We’ve created this visual using data from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to better understand how many civilians have died in Ukraine as a result of the war, as well as how many were injured and how many were children.
The Numbers
As of early December, it is reported that 7,031 people in Ukraine have died because of the war — 433 of them children. Another 11,327 have been injured, 827 of which are children. In total, this is over 18,000 people killed or injured.
The figures are difficult to verify due to differing reports coming out of both Russia and Ukraine. The UN OHCHR anticipates that the numbers could be even higher.
The State of the Conflict
The war began on February 24th, 2022 and less than a year in, millions of people have been displaced by the conflict, and thousands of civilians have been injured or killed.
According to the UN, most of the civilian deaths have been caused by wide-ranging explosives such as heavy artillery shelling, missiles, and air strikes, and have been concentrated in Donetsk and Luhansk and in other territory still held by Ukraine.
Additionally, new estimates from Kyiv report approximately 13,000 Ukrainian military or soldier deaths, which has yet to be confirmed by the army.
Where does this data come from?
Source: The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights monthly reports on civilian deaths in Ukraine.
Note: Data on deaths and injuries can vary wildly depending on the source.
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