Study: remote work boosts productivity and well-being without weakening team bonds

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Study finds remote workers are far happier and more productive

Remote workers reported much higher well-being, but were also less likely to leave their role

Study also dispels myth that remote workers might feel alienated from co-workers

Letting employees work remotely can have a significant positive effect on their productivity, job satisfaction and mental health, another major study has found.

A survey of 7,704 employees at a large US healthcare organization by researchers at the Leeds School of Business found fully remote workers reported the highest levels of well-being, with those entirely office-based reporting the lowest level.

The findings, published in Frontiers in Psychology , also noted that it was unable to discover significant evidence that remote workers felt any less connected to colleagues or workplace culture, once again disproving the myth against flexible working.

Stay flexible

"This suggests you let people work remotely if they want to work remotely," said Stefanie Johnson, professor of organizational leadership and information analytics at the Leeds School of Business and co-author of the study. "Taking away people's choice of how they work is probably not going to help them in terms of their well-being."

The researchers also looked at the level of employee turnover one year after the survey was completed, finding employees with higher well-being were less likely to leave the organization.

Remote work was associated with higher well-being, which in turn was associated with lower turnover, showing that work location cannot be a strong direct predictor of turnover.

"The data from our study and others suggest remote and hybrid work result in better outcomes than return-to-office mandates," Johnson added. "Leaders are not making decisions based on data. I think they are just returning to what they are used to."

Remote working has been a long-standing debate ever since the Covid-19 pandemic forced people around the world to be flexible.

While office-based working can have some benefits, it is increasingly noticeable that it is largely the CEOs and owners of large businesses who back a return - not those who actually have to do it, and those paying large sums of money for travel and food costs.

Amazon, Dell and Tesla are among the companies which have adopted five-day mandates, while others have also adopted four-day and three-day mandates.