With the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, the question of the future of remote work has returned. Many employers are now making efforts to restrict its use, whether through full-time return-to-office mandates or by imposing a minimum number of in-person days. On the other hand, many employees value the flexibility remote work provides and want to continue benefiting from it. The topic has now been studied enough for Gajendram, Ponapalli, Wang, and Javagali to conduct a meta-analysis on the relationship between telework and various individual outcomes. Their article was published in Personnel Psychology.
They reviewed 108 studies showing that remote work affects employees primarily through two mechanisms: perceived autonomy and isolation. On average, the significant effects of remote work intensity on individual outcomes are small but generally positive. Employees who work more from home report higher job satisfaction, perceive stronger support, express lower turnover intentions, and are rated more favourably by their supervisors. In contrast, no notable differences were observed in psychological well-being, such as stress management or work–life conflict. This suggests that the increased blurring between professional and personal spheres linked to remote work does not necessarily lead to improved well-being.
Overall, remote work appears to have modest but generally positive effects on employees. The debate, however, remains open, since this research did not account for organizational variables. One might assume, for instance, that companies with more frequent in-person interactions promote greater knowledge sharing, innovation, or the development of a collaborative culture. For both researchers and HR professionals, several questions remain unanswered.