Between social plans with friends, life admin to keep in check, and an endless stream of good TV to stay on top of, finding time for sex isn’t the easiest in 2025. It’s no wonder, then, that new statistics from LELO show that millions of us are taking time off work to get it on. Sorry, boss.
According to the luxury sex toy brand, 12.5 million adults admitted to ‘getting intimate’ during their 9 to 5. Almost a third (31%) of those adults said they ‘often’ find time for intimacy during work hours, while 26% confessed to calling in sick so they could have sex with their partner at a time when they’re both feeling it. Perhaps this is why so many companies are keen to get their employees back in the office more often... RIP flexible working.
“This is reflective of the modern intimacy landscape,” says Kate Moyle, sexual and relationship psychotherapist, certified psychosexologist, and LELO’s resident sex expert, adding that collectively we’re all time and energy “poor”.
“Many people are feeling overstimulated, so when couples are working at home at the same time, they can be looking to make opportunities and steal pockets of time for sex and intimacy, which also breaks up their usual routines,” Moyle continues, pointing out that “we have blurred the boundaries of work and home”. She adds: “This can mean opportunities for sex and intimacy are more spontaneous, with less transition between work-mode and home-mode.”
So, what kind of sex are people having in ‘work-mode’? Here, 10 people share their stories on the steamy sex they’ve had during their work hours. And though they may not be able to call themselves ‘employee of the year’, studies do show that taking regular breaks at work improves productivity, so who are we to argue with science?
10 people on the steamy sex they’ve had during work hours
‘No one at work has ever noticed’
“My partner and I still live at home (with my parents) while we’re saving to buy our own place. I work from home most days, but he works in the city and usually gets home by 4pm. Sometimes when he gets back, if there’s no one else at home, we have a bit of sexy time. I’m not really horny post-dinner, so pre-dinner sex is ideal for me — and it means we can get it on when the parents aren’t in the next room. No one at work has ever noticed that I dip offline.” — Harriet*, 29
‘It really helps me blow off steam’
“I was working from home and went to the kitchen to make coffee. My partner was there looking sexy and said he had a problem. He pulled his joggers down, and he had a massive boner. His penis looked wonderful to me. I just took his hand and led him to the bedroom, and we had rushed but carnal sex that only took like 10 minutes, and then I was back to work.
On a couple of occasions, I’ve also given him a blow job right after finishing a long presentation to decompress. I work a pretty stressful job with a lot of context switching, and the sexual stuff really helps me blow off steam. I’m always professional and presentable at work, but the thought that my boyfriend was balls deep in me 15 minutes before that just feels like something I shouldn’t be doing.” — via Reddit
‘95% of the sex we have is during work hours’
“We have kids who love to wake up anywhere from 9pm to 2am to tell us they had a bad dream or want to snuggle or can’t sleep, meaning sex after hours is a huge gamble. But when they’re at school and we are working and can put ‘meetings’ on our Outlook calendars... it’s on. I’d say 95% of the sex we have is during working hours.” — via Reddit
‘We took regular sex breaks’
“A few years ago, I had a guy come over late on a random Wednesday night, and we were still going at it by 6am on Thursday morning. By that point, we decided there was no point in going to sleep, so we ordered breakfast and had several cups of coffee, then I logged on to work (from home) at about 8am while he just chilled at my place. We took about four or five ‘sex breaks’ whenever I had a quiet few moments, then kept going as soon as I closed my laptop at 5pm. It’s safe to say I was pretty tired by the end of it, and I called in sick at work the next day to do it all again...” — Elise*, 34
‘We have more energy to enjoy it’
“As a married couple who both WFH, morning/day sex is our favourite by a lot. We have much more energy to enjoy it and each other compared to right before bed. Seriously, day sex has been one of the biggest hacks for our sex life.” — via Reddit
‘We set up a fake work meeting’
“I once matched with a couple on a dating site, and since we all worked from home, we set up a fake work meeting in our calendars. Instead of actually working, we just met up and had sex during that time. Definitely made the workday more exciting!” — via Reddit
‘I get many solo sessions in’
“My partner gets really busy during the workday when he’s working from home. But I have a fully remote position and get many deep solo sessions in while he’s working at the office a few times a week.” — via Reddit
‘His sext would kick off a shagging break’
“During the pandemic, I temporarily moved in with my boyfriend so we could be together during lockdown. We were both lucky enough to be able to work from home throughout, so we set up DIY offices — him in his bedroom and me in the living room. He sometimes had whole afternoons free, so occasionally I’d be mid-work and suddenly he’d send a sext or a dick pic (always consensual and wanted!). Luckily, I rarely had meetings or anyone checking up on me, so his sext would usually kick off a little shagging work break.
It was made hotter by the fact that his housemate worked in the living room with me, but obviously didn’t know what was going on. It always felt so illicit to get a sexy text at like 2pm and sneak into his room. We still do it today if we get afternoons at home together.” — Courtney*, 30
‘He ate my ass as I was making a pizza’
“I was 18 and I worked at a small pizza shop. Once, a colleague and I were fucking around just kissing and getting into it, the boss wasn’t around. We got an order and I was making the pizza, then he pulled my pants and panties down and started eating my ass. I moaned so loud. It was the first time I’d done that… as I was making a pizza.” — via Reddit
‘We knew all the camera blind spots for BJs’
“My husband and I worked together for about a year and the manager eventually put us on the same shift once a week, even though we had asked her repeatedly not to. Night shift was usually really dead, and we knew all the camera blind spots, and the store manager never said anything about us going into the bathroom together. Sometimes we’d do it in the middle of the shift, other times it was a quick BJ in a camera blind spot.” — via Reddit
*Names have been changed
