In the five years following the COVID-19 pandemic, many workers transitioned from office environments to working remotely from home. This significant shift in the workplace dynamic has led to various benefits and challenges, with a hidden cost emerging prominently: loneliness. This issue impacts older adults heavily, particularly those aged 55 and older, who experience a more profound sense of isolation and loss of social networks compared to their younger counterparts. For example, studies indicate that older employees are nearly twice as likely as workers aged 16 to 24 to express sentiments of social loss due to remote working.
One such example is Jeannine Vaughan, a communications strategist based in San Francisco’s Potrero Hill district. Vaughan, who began working from home even before the pandemic, had previously owned an advertising agency where in-person camaraderie was the norm. However, with the rise of remote work, she finds that building teamwork and fostering a sense of workplace community has become increasingly difficult, leading to the feeling that “work is not the same.”
The Impact of Remote Work on Older Adults
This emerging trend of loneliness is not confined to older adults working remotely; it spans across different age groups and working conditions. However, the pandemic-induced surge in remote work has exacerbated this trend, particularly affecting aging individuals who also struggle with vulnerability to health issues, financial challenges, and the dwindling of their social networks. Initially, the idea of working from sunny exotic locales might have been an attractive daydream, but the reality of spending entire days in Zoom meetings soon dampened that enthusiasm.
While many people across age groups still tout the advantages of working remotely, such as flexible work schedules, elimination of commuting, savings on parking and gas, and the ability to work later in life, the less obvious downsides are just as real. One of the significant drawbacks of remote work is the increased likelihood of long hours being chained to a chair in front of an electronic screen. This sedentary lifestyle elevates health risks, and the lack of in-person interactions reduces opportunities for spontaneous brainstorming sessions, resulting in shrinking social connections that were once buffers against isolation and loneliness.
Health Risks and Social Connections
Jeffrey Hall, Ph.D., a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas, studies the dynamics of friendship and how it evolves. According to Hall, loneliness often sneaks up on individuals, creating a sense of despair that is far from a healthy state of being. Studies done before the pandemic linked loneliness to higher risks of heart disease, stroke, dementia, high cholesterol, diabetes, and other health issues. A 2023 study further found that older workers reported more muscular and joint pain when required to work from home more days than they preferred, corroborating feelings of a lost workplace community.
Hall’s research elucidates various ways that in-person work fosters social support, noting that workplace friends can serve as mentors, advocates, and confidants—all relationships that require physical presence to develop. Vaughan, now in her 50s, laments the loss of workplace friendships and spontaneous connections that enriched her work life. Before the pandemic, workplace camaraderie extended beyond office hours, with colleagues often socializing over lunch or happy hours. However, remote work has since shrunk her social interactions to the confines of her home office.
Challenges of Building New Connections
Without the casual conversations and small talk that occur organically in an office setting, forging new friendships in a remote work environment is challenging. According to Vaughan, Zoom meetings lack the entry points for small talk, thereby diminishing the opportunities for developing closeness and the chance discussions that often lead to teamwork and new ideas. As Vaughan aptly puts it, “Small talk leads to big talk,” emphasizing the significance of these seemingly insignificant interactions in fostering a collaborative work environment.
Another issue with remote working is the struggle with maintaining boundaries between work and personal life. Although flexible work hours are a significant advantage of working from home, they can also pose a risk for older remote workers who experience blurred boundaries between their professional and personal lives. A 2023 study found that three out of four older remote workers struggled with this issue, with 60 percent opting to return to the office full-time once remote work mandates were lifted. These workers favored the structured separation that office environments provide.
Global Perspective on Remote Work Loneliness
Despite this preference for structure, a substantial portion of the workforce has not returned to the office. For instance, in the San Francisco metro area, 20.5% of the workforce was still working remotely in 2023, compared to the national rate of 13.8%. This continued prevalence of remote work means that its impacts, particularly the associated loneliness, persist.
The loneliness linked to remote work is not exclusive to the United States; it is a global phenomenon. One study on the Chinese travel company Ctrip revealed that only half of its employees wanted to work from home when given the option. The reason, as Nicholas Bloom, an economist at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, notes, is the craving for social company. Bloom observed that while Ctrip’s remote work pilot increased productivity, only half of the employees volunteered to continue working from home, and of those, half requested to return to the office after nine months due to feelings of isolation, loneliness, and depression. Bloom warns that extended periods of remote working could not only hurt office productivity but also contribute to a burgeoning mental health crisis.
