Ongoing Remote Work, Returning to Working at Work, or in between during COVID-19: What Promotes Subjective Well-Being?

Wen Fan; Phyllis Moen

doi:10.1177/00221465221150283

Ongoing Remote Work, Returning to Working at Work, or in between during COVID-19: What Promotes Subjective Well-Being?

Wen Fan
, Phyllis Moen

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

72 Scopus citations

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	https://doi.org/10.1177/00221465221150283
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

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10.1177/00221465221150283

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title = "Ongoing Remote Work, Returning to Working at Work, or in between during COVID-19: What Promotes Subjective Well-Being?",

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{\textendash}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{\textquoteright}s well-being.",

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doi = "10.1177/00221465221150283",

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N1 - 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.

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Ongoing Remote Work, Returning to Working at Work, or in between during COVID-19: What Promotes Subjective Well-Being?

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