Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated a massive turn to remote work, followed by subsequent shifts for many into hybrid or fully returning to the office. To understand the patterned dynamics of subjective well-being associated with shifting places of work, we conducted a nationally representative panel survey (October 2020 and April 2021) of U.S. employees who worked remotely at some point since the pandemic (N = 1,817). Cluster analysis identified four patterned constellations of well-being based on burnout, work–life conflict, and job and life satisfaction. A total return to office is generally more stressful, leading to significantly lower probabilities of being in the optimal low stress/high satisfaction constellation by Wave 2, especially for men and women without care obligations. Remote and hybrid arrangements have salutary effects; moving to hybrid is especially positive for minority men and less educated men, although it disadvantages White women’s well-being.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 152-171 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | Journal of health and social behavior |
| Volume | 64 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2032639 and 2049125) and the UMN Life Course Center (NIA: P30AG066613). This research was approved by the Boston College Institutional Review Board.
Publisher Copyright:
© American Sociological Association 2023.
Keywords
- COVID-19
- intersectionality
- remote work
- stress process
- subjective well-being
PubMed: MeSH publication types
- Journal Article
- Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
- Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
