Remote work leaves Americans lonelier, mental health suffers

A new study published in Science finds that after the pandemic’s peak years, workers in remote-friendly jobs—especially people living alone—reported more time alone and higher indicators of mental distress than those in non-remote roles. Researchers say remote

In the early days of COVID, when the world shut down and offices went quiet, Ph.D. student Emma Harrington found herself at home—focused, productive, and surprised by how well she could work. What struck her next, though, was something less measurable and harder to brush off.

“I struggled with having just whole days where I couldn’t be sure that I would see people, even in brief ways,” Harrington recalls.

Now an assistant professor at the University of Virginia, Harrington is part of a new study that points to a broader pattern: the long-term shift to remote or hybrid work after the pandemic may have had an adverse effect on workers’ mental health. The research was published today in Science.

The study is aimed at a question that goes beyond 2020 and 2021. when the pandemic was most acute and people were often forced into isolation. Harrington and her colleagues compared workers’ mental health and alone time before and after those peak years to capture what happened once remote work became a standing feature for many workplaces—rather than an emergency measure.

That matters because remote and hybrid work didn’t just disappear after the worst lockdowns. Many workplaces remained entirely remote or kept hybrid in-office policies. In 2023, a poll from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics found that as many as one in five people said they worked remotely.

To do the work, the research team analyzed results from five surveys completed between 2011 and 2024. Together, the surveys included 588,322 Americans. The researchers sorted jobs into “remotable” categories—such as software engineering or law—and “nonremotable” careers, such as nursing.

What they found was stark. After controlling for confounding factors such as age. parental status. and education levels. workers in remote-friendly jobs—especially those who lived alone—reported spending more time by themselves and showing greater indicators of mental distress than their peers in nonremote roles.

For Harrington, one figure stood out. In more recent years, around 25 percent of survey respondents who were both working in remotable jobs and living alone said they’d spent the entire day alone. Harrington said, “That amount of isolation could have pretty detrimental mental health impacts.”

The study is careful about what it does and doesn’t claim. It doesn’t aim to measure all the possible upsides of working from home. including work productivity or individual benefits such as skipping stressful commutes or spending extra time with family. Harrington said. “Our results are not saying that there are no benefits of remote work.” Instead. she explains. the findings indicate “net effects” on mental well-being across the country.

The gap between what people want and how they feel could also be part of why the results are so easy to misread. Research cited in the report suggests that about 80 percent of workers want to work from home at least one day per week. Nicholas Bloom. an economics professor at Stanford University who studies remote work but was not involved in the Science study. said. “People don’t want to be forced into the office five days a week but also don’t want to be forced to lock down WFH five days a week.”.

Bloom worries that the findings could be turned into a blunt political talking point inside companies. “My big fear is: this study is misunderstood as showing the WFH is bad for mental health,” Bloom said. He added that misunderstandings like this could push CEOs to say. “WFH is bad for you. so get back to the office now; it’s for your own good.”.

The study also doesn’t pin down exactly what is driving the discrepancy—why remote work might align with preferences but still correlate with more distress. Harrington said the hypothesis is that it takes time for negative impacts to materialize for people. “That lag might make it difficult for people to link remote work to their negative mental health outcomes,” she said. More research is still needed to confirm what’s behind the pattern.

There are still unanswered questions even within the paper’s own boundaries. It’s unclear whether going into the office a few days per week might “mitigate” any negative mental health outcomes. The authors also say work environment factors may matter in ways the study doesn’t fully resolve.

What the team does insist on is practical: remote work shouldn’t just be accepted as inevitable if it makes people feel cut off. The authors conclude that across a range of remote work arrangements. individuals and organizations may want to prioritize making remote work less isolating—coordinating in-office days for hybrid workers and encouraging informal interaction. even online.

For Harrington. that connection is the missing piece she felt firsthand in the early pandemic—those whole days when you can’t be sure you’ll see anyone. even briefly. The new research doesn’t suggest that work-from-home is a simple good or bad choice. It suggests something more uncomfortable: for many people. especially those living alone. remote work may quietly reshape the shape of daily life—and the cost may follow.

remote work mental health loneliness hybrid work Science study alone time U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Emma Harrington University of Virginia Nicholas Bloom