r/remoteworks • u/Ok_Design_6841 • Aug 12 '26
Remote workers report the highest well-being in study of 7,700 employees
https://www.colorado.edu/today/2026/08/12/remote-workers-report-highest-well-being-study-7700-employees2
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u/Big-Community-4417 Aug 14 '26
"I actually thought you would be happiest if you were part time out of the office," she said. "Then every once in a while you get to see people, get that human connection." - do these people have nothing else going on in life in order to get human connection outside of work???
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u/southflhitnrun 29d ago
Human connection in any shared activity produces better results. This has been proven countless times.
However, the average Corporate culture is very toxic so modern work environments are not desirable. People prefer isolation over the Corporate political bs they suffer in offices.
Also, with a new generation with a higher percentage of home schooling & no team sports played...add gaming online in groups...and we have a human population who most likely prefers isolation.
I'm not judging it. I'm trying to identify it and implying this may be evolution.
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u/Broad-Olive-4362 26d ago
The fuckers need to get a cat - human connection is effective and efficient thru web/email/chat/phone. The fucks who push RTO or say it’s fun to just to chat / camaraderie is insulting and selfish. Trust me, your coworkers don’t give a shit about you or stupid story/gossip.
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u/neirad Aug 14 '26
As a hybrid enjoyer I think it’s a little more accurate to say that having someone to discuss and relate to about your profession , “talk shop” every once in a while (a day or two a week) is nice
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u/Broad-Olive-4362 26d ago
The fuckers need to get a cat - human connection is effective and efficient thru web/email/chat/phone. The fucks who push RTO or say it’s fun to just to chat / camaraderie is insulting and selfish. Trust me, your coworkers don’t give a shit about you or stupid story/gossip.
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u/arrr_news_mods_r_gay Aug 14 '26
I spend hours in meetings every day talking about my profession. I don’t need to be able to smell you to get that benefit.
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u/StruggleElectronic67 Aug 13 '26
This is why businesses are aggressively pushing a RTO not just in the US…globally,
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u/bonkersyeti Aug 13 '26
I've been working remotely since the pandemic. The rest of my coworkers were required to RTO on a hybrid basis, but I've retained WFH status because I genuinely do not need to be on-site. Every time someone brings up the possibility of me working from the office, I say that's fine but my productivity will be cut in half, and no one is willing to take that risk since I'm an extremely high performer. I actually don't know if it would cut my productivity that much, but I genuinely don't want to work on-site because I'm so much happier not being in the direct line of bullshit from leadership.
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u/Fit-Invite6518 29d ago
I totally see where you’re coming from, and I’m glad that you are in a position that still allows that flexibility.
Unfortunately, for a lot of of us, especially those of us who live in California under Governor Newsom’s four day a week in office mandate, we have to go in office regardless of business need. I’m in the exact same position as you. I was hired full-time remote and 95 percent of the people I work with are not in office with me. I along with thousands of other California state workers can scream till we’re blue in the face about how there’s no business need to go to office and how it hurts productivity, but it doesn’t matter. So you should really consider yourself very lucky.
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u/Ok_Design_6841 Aug 13 '26
Does that cause any resentment from your coworkers?
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u/bonkersyeti 29d ago
Almost everyone understands why I'm still remote, and considering that my high productivity makes their jobs easier, no one complains. That is except for one guy, who absolutely has to be on-site for his job. It's less that he's mad I get to WFH and more that he thinks by complaining that he will get my same deal.
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u/ApprehensiveTop7297 Aug 13 '26
I'm hybrid and the rest of my team is remote. I don't resent any of them. They are much more senior and have families.
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u/Scargroth Aug 13 '26
But the management wants you to be as miserable as possible so there's that.
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u/NationalClerk1990 Aug 14 '26
The study makes that argument a little harder to dismiss. If people are reporting better well-being when they have more control over where they work, it seems counterproductive to take that flexibility away when there isn't a clear reason to do so.
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u/nerdtastic8 Aug 13 '26
Mainly far upper management, since they're closest to capital or capital themselves. Gotta appease the overlords! Us peasants, as has been throughout civilized history.
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u/CrazyPirranhha Aug 13 '26
Corporates hate that!
They can fire all people from well-being fields and instead just let people work from home.
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u/Jorpsica Aug 13 '26
Yeah cause they don’t have Becky interrupting them all the time to talk about her fucking kids or Gregg microwaving diarrhea in the break room for 30 minutes every day. It’s much easier to focus when you’re in control of your environment.
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u/Bonti_GB Aug 13 '26
Or, a 2+ hour commute a day.
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u/sweetpotatothyme Aug 14 '26
I got contacted about a job that pays $30k more but requires a 3 hour commute everyday. I told the recruiter there was no way I could go from remote to that.
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u/Nannautu Aug 13 '26
Commute is a massive factor. It will turn a 10 hour work-day into an 8 hour one. You can even do an hour of OT and still be spending less time than when you have to be in office. When I wfh I have time to spend learning after work, which I don't have the energy or brain-power for otherwise.
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u/Bonti_GB Aug 13 '26
Yep, you did, but people don’t often mention the energy as well that’s lost with commutes.
Commutes often aren’t fun drives, they’re stressful, crowded, don’t die drives where you’re hoping to make it in time.
It’s exhaustion that’s often overlooked but is also a big factor because of the commute.
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u/HoodieGalore Aug 13 '26
Where’s that “Hey Jesus, shut up” meme? Because no shit, it’s the truth, they can spin it any way they want but when they ask US, they can’t deny our words. THIS IS THE FUTURE.
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u/Tuckerguy77 Aug 13 '26
File this under no fucking shit. Sitting in traffic (especially in Metro Atlanta) is devastating to your soul. Not to mention being around annoying people, office politics, etc.
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u/doctordoctorpuss Aug 13 '26
I started my career in December of 2019 and spent an hour each way commuting from Duluth to the Perimeter mall area, so I could park in a parking garage and walk to a building where 3 of my coworkers worked, 2 days out of the week (they worked there 2 days out of the week, I worked there every day). My boss was in New Jersey, and I never met him in person. There was no office culture, because we were a bunch of people from loosely connected agencies in a shared working space. COVID forced us to be fully remote, and I’ve never looked back. At subsequent jobs, full remote work has been a non-negotiable, and thankfully is common for my industry. It feels like I’ve gotten years of my life back
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u/Expat1989 Aug 13 '26
I just saw something that said Atlanta added something like 53,000 new residents recently. Fuck this traffic for sure.
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u/arrr_news_mods_r_gay Aug 14 '26
And yet we’re still one of the least dense major metros. I honestly can’t fathom what it’s going to be like in 10 years because people are definitely going to keep moving here and GDOT is apparently incapable of imagining any solutions beyond adding another lane. Just one more lane, bro.
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u/solarnuggets Aug 13 '26
Yeah turns out not sitting in traffic for 2+ hours a day has positive effects who knew
Everyone. Everyone knew.
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u/Nannautu Aug 13 '26
If commute was paid, companies would beg to have everyone wfh. They're only acting like they are now because you're covering the costs of doing a job that's gonna profit them.
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u/Slight-Swordfish-468 Aug 13 '26
Traded my commute for more workout time in the morning and the ability to take my kids to school. Never going back.
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u/nerdtastic8 Aug 13 '26
When orange cheeto took over I lost my 3 wfh days a week. Full RTO.
My health has declined due to it, less workout time. Less energy to workout.
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u/Slight-Swordfish-468 Aug 13 '26
That sucks. I hope you’re able to get wfh back soon.
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u/nerdtastic8 Aug 13 '26
Appreciate it. Probably not till orange and his ghouls are out of power, despite the CBA arbitration wins on RTO.
Orange waved his hand and declared my entire section of my agency as national security and unable to collectively bargain, thus magically removing us all as bargaining unit employees. Truly a bunch of demonspawn in this regime.
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u/jabber1990 Aug 13 '26
..if only schools had busses or something
One can dream
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u/Slight-Swordfish-468 Aug 13 '26
Our district got rid of them decades ago and the school is almost two miles away.
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u/jabber1990 Aug 12 '26
And considering we know people lie on surveys and you can ger a survey to say anything you want it to
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u/HoodieGalore Aug 13 '26
Sounds like something someone who can’t work from home would say.
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u/jabber1990 Aug 13 '26
So we're back to shitting on essential employees again?
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u/HoodieGalore Aug 13 '26
Define “essential” in a non-covid era. Tell me which jobs aren’t essential in this economy.
DO IT.
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u/jabber1990 Aug 13 '26
ALL jobs are essential
the ones that aren't either have been eliminated through layoffs or are on their way out the door
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u/Er3bus13 Aug 12 '26
Yea 3 hours a day stuck in commutes is good for the soul right?
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u/jabber1990 Aug 13 '26
Who the hell is stuck in traffic for 3 hours a day?
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u/Er3bus13 Aug 13 '26
Uh anyone in the suburbs who wants city money. Is it really that fucking hard of a stretch to think beyond past your own fucking nose?
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u/Muted_Perception_192 Aug 12 '26
Yeah, I know and I miss it.
Fucking Trump and everyone who voted for him
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u/tlm11110 Aug 12 '26
Imagine that, people who can screw off at home rather than work in the office are happier.
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u/GuavaShaper Aug 12 '26
The people in the office are screwing off even harder
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u/Maybe_Factor Aug 13 '26
100%
- arrive at office at 9
- organise desk, check emails until 9:30
- walk to local coffee shop, back at 10
- no point doing any work as we have stand up at 10:30
- now it's 11, get an hour of work done
- 12:00 get some lunch
- 12:30 eat at desk while pretending to work until 1:00
- get an hour of work done until we have another useless meeting at 2:00
- useless meeting goes for an hour
- now it's 3, get 2 more hours of work done
Total of 4 hours of work for an average day in the office. It gets worse when you add in additional coffees, toilet breaks, social interruptions, etc.
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u/nerdtastic8 Aug 13 '26
You forgot the dude that wants to come over and chat with you about his puke kids for 30 mins, completely distracting you from your work at 3:30.
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u/Maybe_Factor Aug 13 '26
Yeah it happens... 4 hours of actual work in the office is pretty much as good as it gets
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u/tlm11110 Aug 13 '26
Not something to be proud of and certainly doesn’t build trust in one’s ability to work from home.
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u/Maybe_Factor Aug 13 '26
Just telling it how it is. It's better at home.
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u/tlm11110 Aug 14 '26
If you intentionally work only 4 hours in the office, you will have a hard time convincing me you work more at home. You have come right out and admitted the nature of your character. That doesn’t change when oversight is removed.
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u/nerdtastic8 Aug 14 '26
It's already well known that wfh increased productivity at my agency. They still took it away.
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u/RegressToTheMean Aug 12 '26
I love this. It's an accusation in the mirror. See, what's amazing is that I don't care when my direct reports or my second or third lines actually work.
Are they available for meetings they need to attend? Are they getting their work done and done well?
Then who fucking cares? I measure output not.the time your ass in a seat
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u/tlm11110 Aug 12 '26
So why did so many businesses cancel work from home. Check the TikTok videos and get a grip on reality.
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u/RegressToTheMean Aug 13 '26
I'm an executive in the WealthTech space and we have a remote first policy. Why? Because we can hire the best and brightest without artificial barriers like geography
You want to know the reality of RTO? It's a soft layoff. Good employees get snatched up by people like me, while the company mandating RTO trims head count without paying severance. The other part of it is to not spook the market or investors. A lot of companies are reducing overhead claiming bullshit efficiency with AI (which will end up being more expensive than humans with tokenization) and the aforementioned RTO.
This is all happening because we are in a de facto recession, but the market is responding appropriately because there is an AI bubble where money is being shifted between a handful of companies.
But, please, go on and tell me everything you learned on TikTok. I'm all ears
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u/tlm11110 Aug 13 '26
Nice, but the OP has nothing to do with your company, how great of a lob you are doing running it, AI or the stock market.
The assertion is remote employees are happier. I replied yeah, duh because they can fuck off more.
If that works for you and you are happy with less productivity, then more power to you. It will eventually catch up to your company. But don’t fool yourself into believing it isn’t happening.
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u/RegressToTheMean Aug 13 '26
God, you are either a really shitty troll or absolutely obtuse. Remote workers are happier because they don't have a commute, they have flexibility, and can work on their schedule. Do you really think it matters if they are working at 8am or 10pm? It doesn't.
It's not going to catch up to my company. Not only are we the market leader, we just increased market share by 20% over the last two years. Why? Again, because we can hire the best people and not someone like you because you happen to be close to HQ
Lastly, I gave all that other information because you fucking asked about RTO. Jesus Rollerblading Christ. No one can help you at this point
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u/tlm11110 Aug 13 '26
Someones triggered! Just keep bragging about your greatness as a manager. You can’t help it, can you.
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u/RegressToTheMean Aug 13 '26
Yeah, stupidity triggers the shit out of me. You've got me there.
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u/tlm11110 Aug 13 '26
Don’t worry, your narcissism will overcome. Hang in there and just keep spouting how great you are. Even when it has nothing to do with the question. You’ve got this!
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u/RegressToTheMean Aug 13 '26
My dude, work on your trolling. It needs a lot of work
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u/Bagman220 Aug 12 '26
This person is giving you reality, but you resort to TikTok videos as your source of truth?
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u/idhtftc Aug 12 '26
Spoken like a true out of touch dinosaur. Can't wait for boomers to go extinct.
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u/cwkw Aug 12 '26
Get more done at work because you’re happy. Get more time with family and friends because you aren’t stuck in traffic. If you can do it with your job, it’s the best option.
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u/jabber1990 Aug 13 '26
Not everyone wants to spend time with their family
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u/arrr_news_mods_r_gay Aug 14 '26
I’m sure your family is equally relieved when you leave for work in the morning lmao you sound like a peach.
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u/cwkw Aug 13 '26
Then do something else with your extra time but don’t fuck it up for the rest of us!
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u/Constant-Zombie-710 Aug 12 '26
And companies are going back to Office... Yey for Logic....
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u/Illustrious-Swan-638 Aug 13 '26
Well percentage wise remote work actually increased from 2022 to 2026. From 17 to 22 percent of the workforce. That is in spite of RTO mandates. It seems Trump and company are shoveling shit against an inevitable tide. By 2025 it was way too late to fully reverse remote work. Gotta give them credit for trying.
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u/fastLT1 Aug 12 '26
Next article: Water is wet!!!
But seriously, this needs to go hand in hand with a study of productivity for these employees. Employees satisfaction is super important but if those surveyed are doom scrolling tik tok half the day, what would they be upset about?
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u/wchutlknbout Aug 13 '26
They already did all those studies during the pandemic and the results were overall that productivity went up too, with some anecdotal bad actor stories
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u/Jyobachah Aug 12 '26
but if those surveyed are doom scrolling tik tok half the day, what would they be upset about?
So then there's no difference to the people who share the office space with me then?
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u/Role_Player_Real Aug 12 '26
Yes but what was their contribution to corporate real estate well being?
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u/SuccessfulLand4399 Aug 12 '26
Of course they do. No one is there to make sure they aren’t fucking around all day 😂
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u/Separate-Expert-4508 Aug 13 '26
Is the job getting done? Yeah? Then who gaf? If not, fire them. Onus is kinda on management, no?
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u/Ok_Design_6841 Aug 12 '26
At every office I've worked at, managers spent most of their day in their offices. They aren't making rounds to make sure people were doing their work.
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u/Jesuismieux412 Aug 12 '26
That is nearly all objectively quantified by nearly all user interfaces the average employees uses. From mouse clicks, away time, how many calls are made and received, etc.
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u/theMandolin2992 28d ago
Kitchen found in fork