The possible harms of remote work to health

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When Cat, 30, was offered a fully remote job in 2021, she took it without a second thought.

At the time, Cat – who lives in London and works in environmental services – had already worked remotely due to the Covid pandemic. He therefore felt that working from home would not be a big problem.

But in recent months, he has changed his mind.

“Working alone day after day is difficult, especially when my husband is in the office,” she says. “Sometimes I don’t see anyone all day, which can be really lonely. I’ve found that instead of taking breaks to talk to people in the office, I pick up my phone. This increased screen time sure does harm my well-being. be.”

Remote work has been advocated as the solution to some of the problems of our pre-pandemic fast-paced lifestyle. For many, it offered the opportunity to spend more time with their children or to use time that was once wasted on commuting to pursue more fulfilling hobbies.

But new research on the relationship between remote work and mental health has yielded mixed results.

In the New Future of Work report, published by Microsoft in 2022, researchers indicated that while remote work can increase job satisfaction, it can also make employees feel better. feel “socially isolated, guilty and try to make amends”.

The negative effects may have come as a surprise to some professionals, who are now feeling the pressure and realizing that remote work is not necessarily the mental health panacea, as has been advertised. Contrary to the current narrative of a mass demand for remote work, some employees are actually choosing to take on part-shift positions in the office.

But for many, these downsides are well worth it. For groups that struggled with office work life before the pandemic, the problems caused by working from home are a small price to pay.

‘Rapidly growing mental health crisis’

People may have imagined that working from home would be a utopia that would include exercising during work breaks, preparing healthy lunches at home, and being able to study easily. But for many, the reality is very different.

Research indicates that remote workers work longer and that up to 80% of British professionals feel that working from home has taken a toll on their mental health.

Nicola Hemmings is a work environment scientist at the American mental health care company Koa Health. She claims that the lack of personal contact Cat faces is a common complaint.

Hemmings points out that the pandemic has caused a “rapidly growing mental health crisis” and that even people who have fully embraced the shift to remote work may be subject to it.

“During remote work, we miss the social cues of the busy office and the much-needed social interactions — chatting in the hallway, having a drink in the kitchen, greeting someone and asking about the weekend,” she says. “These seemingly unimportant moments, collectively, can have a big impact on our well-being.”

Isolation isn’t the only problem with remote work. Cat claims that in addition to feeling lonely, she also realized that dealing with a large amount of video calls made her feel “insecure”. Constantly seeing her own face on screen made Cat want to resume face-to-face meetings.

“I would prefer to have the option of going to the office a few times a week to have some personal contact,” he says.

In addition, professionals from specific groups are feeling the negative effects more. Cat is millennial and childless — a group very likely to be affected by the difficulties she describes.

A survey showed that 81% of people under the age of 35 felt lonely working from home for long periods, and studies have shown higher levels of stress and anxiety among young professionals since switching to remote work.

Hemmings says that specific circumstances, most often associated with young professionals (millennials and Gen Z), such as their recent entry into the workforce or lack of a quiet, exclusive workspace, can have a strong impact on their mental health.

‘I no longer have Sunday night syndrome’

But for some people, remote work during the pandemic was a positive watershed in overcoming difficulties.

This is especially the case for professionals with disabilities or who have care responsibilities for others. Hemmings says these people experienced positive changes in their mental health.

For them, office work can be extremely detrimental to their well-being, as they face long commutes with an intense schedule of personal commitments, as well as physical and mental exhaustion from dealing with the stress of commuting to and from a workplace. inappropriate for your needs.

Lauren, 28, says working from home has certainly improved her mental health. Mother of one child and resident of the State of Pennsylvania, in the United States, she points out that there are some disadvantages, such as never feeling totally disconnected, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

She says she is now able to work in the same room while her husband plays with her daughter or go to doctor’s appointments for her or her daughter at the most appropriate time.

“For the first time in my life, I no longer have Sunday night syndrome,” says Lauren, who works in the tech industry.

“I have flexible hours, which helps a lot when you have a kid. I definitely want to keep working remotely, at least until my daughter starts school.”

For Lauren, the downsides of remote work outweigh the greater convenience and more time with her daughter. Kevin Rockman, a professor of management at the George Mason University School of Business in the US, points out that while there are undeniable mental health issues, the balance of benefits for people like Lauren is huge.

“There is no doubt that the well-being is greater with remote work,” he says. “Trading commuting time for personal health, family or recreation is almost a guarantee of positive benefits.”

In search of balance

The shift to remote work has not been simple, and many companies are now facing the problem of how to design a model that works for everyone.

The evidence available at the moment shows that one’s personal preferences and circumstances are a key factor in whether remote work brings any benefits — and, if so, whether the value of those benefits outweighs disadvantages such as isolation and loneliness. .

“Implementing remote work is really about reimagining what being at work means to each person,” says Rockman.

“Employers need to balance flexibility, giving people the tools they need to stay productive and [atender] the social needs of employees. The form of this ideal balance will be different for each company.”

Rockman indicates that different groups of people will have different experiences with remote work.

Studies show that young mothers are more likely to benefit from working from home and that someone who lives with a partner and has a social network in their area is likely to experience fewer negative impacts on their well-being than someone who lives alone and has recently moved out of town, for example.

It is also possible that employees wish that their workplace could change over time. A Gen Z professional at the start of their career, for example, may value office social contact and their needs may be very different from a working mother or a caregiver for an aging father.

What works best is not necessarily an ideal solution for everyone—and will likely change as well, depending on the specific needs of each individual over time.

Cat isn’t looking for a new job right now, but she says that when she does, she hopes to find one that balances the face-to-face and remote routine.

She has struggled with her mental health working from home, but still wouldn’t want to go back to spending five days a week at the office — a sign of how complex many people’s feelings about the real conditions of the “home office” are.

As for Lauren, she envisions switching to a hybrid system once her daughter enters school, but only if the work is flexible enough that she can still leave at noon to see the little one at a school event or go to school. a medical consultation.

“If not, working from home forever doesn’t sound too bad to me,” he says.

This text was originally published here.

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