(Stacker) – This is an ongoing debate that plays out every week on LinkedIn: As companies bring employees back to the office, a percentage of employees will quit or express dissatisfaction after successfully working remotely for a long period of time.
Then there’s the hybrid debate: is a hybrid once a week or twice a week? Four times a week could be called a hybrid, but in most people’s eyes it clearly isn’t.
One thing is certain: the COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the landscape for working professionals.
Many companies have fully embraced remote models and have been very successful (Shopify, Airbnb, Microsoft), while others are slowly returning to pre-COVID-19 policies (Disney, Google, Amazon).
Meta leader Mark Zuckerberg has also urged employees to return to the office, previously weighing in on the debate, saying, “Employees working from home have been more productive than we expected. Some people thought the whole thing would fall apart, but that hasn’t happened.”
But which environments are best for mental health? The folks at Statista wanted to find out, so they surveyed over 5,000 people who work from home, offices, and factories.
Interestingly, Way.com found that remote workers had slightly higher rates of mental health issues (46%) than office workers (39%) and factory workers (42%). When it came to catching a cold, the rates were essentially the same across the three environments.
Gastrointestinal problems were most prevalent among home workers, at 40%, compared to 34% of office and factory workers.
Health issues aren’t the only thing affecting workers
While these results give a slight edge to office work, other studies looking at the happiness of remote and hybrid workers have found that 88% of those surveyed are most satisfied with a flexible work schedule.
In an Ergotron survey of 1,000 people, 56% of employees in hybrid or remote working situations reported improved mental health and better work-life balance. Remote workers’ physical health improved by 75% due to a more active work style.
The debate over working from home is not absolute: some people believe it saves them time from commuting and helps them focus better, while others believe being in the office with others is best for their overall well-being.
The key, according to some studies, seems to be one word: flexibility.
Perhaps Virgin Group founder and chairman Richard Branson put it best when he said, “We want to give our people the freedom to work wherever they want, with the peace of mind that they have the drive and expertise to perform well, whether that’s at their desk or in their kitchen.”
This story is Way.com Reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.
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