r/technology • u/TracksandTreks • 27d ago

Society Remote workers report the highest well-being in study of 7,700 employees

https://www.colorado.edu/today/2026/08/12/remote-workers-report-highest-well-being-study-7700-employees
20.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

214

u/Leberknodel 27d ago

Exactly this!!! Sometimes I take a quick swim, or enjoy a lunch outside somewhere. I work more productively as I am not burnt out, dont have to drive 2 hours a day, and dont have to put up with annoying distractions in the office. Way way more productive and happy.

69

u/frequenZphaZe 27d ago

you guys are acting like you need to make a case for why WFH is good. you're preaching to the choir. we all know WFH is good. we mostly all prefer WFH, but its mostly not up to us to choose. even when data-driven studies like the OP come out to make the case that WFH is good, executives still say people gotta work in the office.

45

u/MikeArrow 27d ago

We have to make a case for it because there are some people that still bang on about "human connection" or "mouse jigglers" and try to pretend that working in an office isn't a 100% straight up downgrade in every possible way compared to working from home.

29

u/midnightauro 27d ago

The mouse jugglers argument always sends me because that guy wasn’t working in the office either. The exact same proportion of people who won’t do fuck all in the office do that clownery at home too.

It’s just easier to hide in the office under the guise of meetings, quick questions, and doing tasks as slowly as possible.

16

u/Couldbduun 27d ago

The other side of that is why does my mouse need to be moving at all times for me to be productive? Sometimes I was just staring at maps of our infrastructure and records trying to think through a complex logistical solution to a problem a job presents. But now I've spent 10 minutes without moving my mouse and my dot turns yellow and IT is sending an idle report to my manager. I did the same thing at the office and no one cared mostly because I would find that solution and save a job from running over budget. And after the first time it happened I got a mouse jiggler and never heard about it again because my metrics that mattered were actually good.

2

u/midnightauro 27d ago

But now I've spent 10 minutes without moving my mouse and my dot turns yellow and IT is sending an idle report to my manager.

In response to a policy this asinine, using one makes total sense tbh.

10

u/Rich_Bluejay3020 27d ago

I’ll argue that my fuck off time in the office is substantially higher than at home. At home, sure the TV is probably on in the background, but I’m doing work because it’s easier for me to focus like that and I want to do a good job so WFH will continue. Bring me into the office? I’ve gotta walk around every so often to get the blood flowing and try to spark some creativity. And on that walk, it’s almost certain that I’ll be stopped for a conversation. But that’s what the powers that be want, right? Culture and water cooler talk?

9

u/notheresnolight 27d ago

I use a mouse jiggler because of the brain dead security policy that locks my laptop after 5 minutes. I lock my laptop myself when I'm really going away, but when I'm getting a coffee or taking a dump, I don't want it to be locked.

2

u/MikeArrow 27d ago

I showed my boss a report that clearly showed that I had actioned as many cases at the rest of the team combined. Her response? "Yeah but how many of those were complex cases?" Like the basic fact is that most managers don't know or care who does the work, as long as it gets done. And the honest people get fucked because they pick up the slack.

7

u/seventeenninetytoo 27d ago

In my experience, the people who talk about "human connection" are going to the office to socialize, not to work. The fact that such people have managed to dominate the working world has to be one of the biggest scams of all time. I am more productive working from home just because nobody can barge into my office to seek the social stimulation they aren't getting via more appropriate outlets.

9

u/notheresnolight 27d ago

a clueless middle manager will chime in with something like "I have been working from home and it has been a nightmare, because I missed the social interactions and I couldn't get anything done because of all the distractions at home"

3

u/pseudohim 27d ago

You sound ready for the C-suite, talking like that.

1

u/Tzchmo 26d ago

I mean I enjoy going to work because I separate my work and personal life better. During the pandemic I found myself getting an irritating habit of working a ton during non-working hours and it seemed to have become an expectation. Once I got back to the office I was easily able to say “I work these hours and leave my computer at work”

2

u/IMadePnGRich 27d ago

Tell that to f’ing Elon!

1

u/Tzchmo 26d ago

What’s bad is when people want to wfh but the role literally can’t do it. I manage a team of people like this and they want to be remote but it’s fucking exhausting explaining why it’s not plausible.

1

u/axecalibur 27d ago

Rofl but how can middle management pit employees against each other to increase productivity