The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Worker

Working from home, a new study in the journal Science says, leaves employees lonelier, sadder, and more likely to be depressed. So does that mean everybody get back to your office desks so morale improves? The authors looked at rates of mental distress among people in jobs that could be done remotely or not before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and concluded that remote work is responsible for about a third of the overall increase, with the worst results for people who live alone. But before-and-after is not cause-and-effect. Isolation is real. Chaining everyone to a desk for friendship is not the only fix.