Original Coverage & Source Attribution: www.today.com
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we work. As the novel coronavirus spread, offices scrambled to move online. By mid-2020, the world had ushered in a new era of remote working.
Employees traded commutes and cubicles for dining table desks, and business casual for loungewear. Coworkers adapted to virtual meetings, which pets and children often interrupted.
The “new normal” of working remotely seemingly came with a host of benefits: better work-life balance, more flexibility, no stressful commutes and higher productivity.
As COVID restrictions were lifted, some employers kept their remote work policies in place. Others shifted to a hybrid model, allowing employees to blend their work-from-home schedule with several days of in-office work each week.
In recent years, many companies have changed tune, enforcing strict return-to-office mandates requiring employees work from the office four to five days a week. The justification? Bolster office culture and in-person collaboration.
These mandates have been met with some pushback, with employees citing stress and burnout. A 2025 study from researchers at Harvard found that workers are willing to take a salary cut of up to 20% to have the flexibility to work remotely.
Today, the work-from-home versus return-to-office debate remains polarizing. But personal preferences aside, what does the science show about the impact on wellbeing? Which practice is healthier for employees? Here’s what we know.
Working Remote: Isolating or Empowering?
A recent large-scale study suggests that working remotely — despite its popularity — may take a mental toll. The findings, published in June 2026 in Science, analyzed data from surveys of of 588,322 Americans spanning over a decade.
“There’s a lot of evidence that people like working remotely; 80% of people think that it would be better for their mental health to work remotely at least some of the time,” Emma Harrington, Ph.D., an assistant professor of economics at the University of Virginia and co-author of the study, tells TODAY.com.
The researchers compared post-pandemic changes in mental health among people who work “remotable” jobs, such as software engineering or marketing, to those who work “nonremotable jobs,” such as nurses or mechanics.
The study drew on surveys spanning from 2011-2024, excluding the peak lockdown years of 2020-2021.
They found that fully remote workers spent more hours alone and had less after-work socializing than in-person workers.
“In people with remotable occupations, we saw a 50% increase in spending all day alone in the home and a 72% increase in the likelihood of not being in any ‘ambient contact’ with anyone all day, like, not anyone in the grocery store, truly isolated,” Natalia Emanuel, Ph.D., an economist and co-author of the study, tells TODAY.com.
Simultaneously, workers in remotable jobs reported increased psychological distress. Researchers observed a 58% rise in mental healthcare visits and a 21% jump in prescriptions for antidepressants among fully remote workers, Emanuel notes.
Remote workers who live alone saw the most dramatic impacts. “These (costs) are especially concentrated among people who were not living with a partner or kids,” says Emanuel.
The findings were observational, meaning they do not prove that remote work causes poor mental health. However, the authors argue that the costs of remote work can be silent and build up for years.
“The toll of isolation takes a while, it’s not an immediate impact on mental health. And it can be hard to differentiate what’s coming from remote work versus other changes in life, like a breakup, a new job or getting older,” says Harrington.
The study did not examine other benefits of working remotely, such as skipping commutes or flexibility with childcare.
“It’s not saying that remote work has no advantages. It’s saying for the average person, the costs of fewer in-person connections may outweigh the benefits,” says Harrington.
Other research suggests the opposite.
A study published this July in Frontiers of Psychology challenges the association between remote work and poor health. Researchers found that remote employees reported the highest level of wellbeing, while in-person employees reported the lowest in an analysis of 7,700 employees at a US healthcare company.
Nicholas Bloom, Ph.D., an economics professor at Stanford University who has been studying the impacts of remote work for over 20 years, warns against the jumping to the conclusion that remote work worsens mental health.
“For some people, it’s a godsend,” Bloom tells TODAY.com.
“A large (proportion) of people will say being fully remote is best for their mental and physical health. They tend to be people in their 30s and 40s with long commutes and kids,” Bloom adds.
Many people find remote work less stressful, Bloom says, and that it allows more time for exercise and other healthy habits.
There’s some evidence that remote workers consume more home-cooked meals, contributing to healthier eating patterns — and they may have lower blood pressure, per a 2024 study.
A 2025 review suggests that the flexibility of telework may reduce the amount of time taken off due to illness, facilitate a faster return to work and shorten the duration of sick leave.
Remote Work and Accessibility
For disabled and chronically ill people, the ability to work remotely is often a necessity, Imani Barbarin, a disability rights advocate who runs the blog Crutches and Spice, tells TODAY.com.
“A staggeringly small number of disabled people are employed. There are people that do want to get into the office with disabilities, they just can’t,” Barbarin explains.
Remote work reduces barriers. “It means more accessibility to get to doctor’s appointments, familiarity with their own space and not having to ‘perform’ in an office,” says Barbarin.
Many disabled people benefitted from the rise of fully remote work during the pandemic. Return-to-office mandates and commuting present major challenges.
Working remotely is a reasonable accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, but employers aren’t obliged to grant this if it causes undue hardship or expenses.
“When you’re working from home, you don’t have to deal with everyone else’s ableism or asking for accommodations, (and) the fear that this presents you as a lesser worker,” says Barbarin.
However, Barbarin points out that flexible policies can benefit everyone in the workplace.
“Remote work is accessibility that anybody can take advantage of. It promotes work-life balance, it allows for family time, and it allows people to work on their own schedule,” Barbarin says.
The Return-to-Office Paradox
Office work does have benefits. It can increase social interactions, get people out of the house, and create boundaries between work and home life, the experts note.
“Some people want to go in every day. They feel working from home is not good for their health, or they find it isolating or depressing,” says Bloom.
Social isolation is linked to a greater likelihood of mental illness, chronic disease and cognitive decline, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — young adults, such as those who entered the workforce after the pandemic, may be at higher risk.
In addition to work-related interactions, the office facilitates casual connections with colleagues. “There’s evidence that that the office is the No. 1 place that American adults form new friendships,” says Harrington.
But the experts emphasize that RTO mandates do not guarantee employees will see or speak to each other.
“I find it sad when RTO mandates don’t coordinate workers, so on the day you go in, your team isn’t there or meetings are still happening over Zoom,” says Emanuel. “It makes your commute feel worthless because you’re just Zooming with different background.”
Some research suggests people who work in an office have more physical movement and higher step counts, whereas working remotely increases sedentary behavior.
However, Emanuel warns that office workers can still fall into the trap of sitting at a desk all day.
“The value of the office is the opportunity to have face-to-face connection, both planned and spontaneous, (like) when you’re both getting coffee. If you never get out of your seat, you’re losing a lot of that benefit,” Emanuel says.
It’s also on companies to ensure the workplace is conducive to employees’ wellbeing, the experts say. This means having comfortable seating, adjustable desks, natural lighting and good air quality — plus some employee perks.
Accessibility and inclusion should also be a priority. “You can’t have you can’t have it both ways. You can’t demand people get into an office and then make that office inaccessible to them,” says Barbarin.
WFH vs. RTO: Which Is Healthier?
Remote work and office jobs both have benefits and downsides. Ultimately, the healthiest option depends on the individual and their needs, the experts emphasize.
“The biggest lesson from all of this is choice. People are different, there really is no one size fits all,” says Bloom.
Moderation is key, he adds. That’s why many experts argue that hybrid or flexible policies offer the best of both worlds.
“The real sweet spot is having a situation where people can choose when they want to be in office,” Bloom says.
Forcing people to return to the office full-time may not be the most productive strategy for employees or companies.
In a landmark study on working-from-home professionals published in Nature in 2024, researchers found that employees who work one to two days from home per week were just as satisfied and productive as their in-office peers — plus, they were less likely to quit.
“People know what’s best for themselves. … On the managerial side, they can always figure out how check-ins and reporting are supposed to work,” Bloom adds.
Tips to Stay Healthy At Work
Whether you’re fully remote, in the office five days a week or somewhere in between, you can take steps to protect your health while working.
First, avoid staying too sedentary. If you sit at a desk all day, try to get up and move your body at least once an hour. When you can, take the stairs or walk while taking calls.
Try to prioritize quality sleep, nutrition and hydration during the workweek. And if you’re sick, stay home.
Even if you don’t want to socialize at the office, it usually benefits people to make the most of their in-person time with colleagues, according to Harrington and Emanuel, who co-authored the upcoming book, “IN PERSON: How Working Together Fuels Creativity, Productivity, and Growth.”
“To the extent possible, try putting yourself out there. … Ask someone to get lunch with you, or linger at the coffee machine and strike up a conversation. Those little things can be helpful in making the most of the office,” says Harrington.
Hate your commute? Reframe it as an investment. “You’re doing an unpleasant thing, but to get to a place where you can talk to other people and flex your social skills,” says Emanuel.
Plan fun after-work activities near the office, like shopping or happy hour, to incentivize yourself to come in.
Harrington suggests managers find ways to connect both in-office and remote employees, such as planning quarterly off-sites.
If you’re fully remote, the experts suggest trying to combat isolation, especially if you live alone. “Make sure you leave the house, get some sunshine and walk around, have social contact outside of your household,” says Emanuel. Avoid over-working or pushing through the workday when you’re sick.
Happiness impacts your health, too. If you’re miserable at work no matter the setting, it may be time to consider a job change.
