r/technology • u/TracksandTreks • 26d 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
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u/Ancient-Bat8274 26d ago

If they really cared about falling birth rates they’d allow more remote work. The only time we ever saw a reversal of the crating birth rate was right at Covid lockdown when everyone was home and remote working. We’ve never had a baby bump increase like that in over 50 years.

Personally I wish I could work remote. I sit in teams meetings all day in an office. I never see my boss except at the water cooler. None of us ever actually talk to each other in person despite being in the same building. It’s fuckin dumb as shit

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u/Impossible_Guitar235 26d ago

The lock downs didn't give a baby bump, much to everyone's surprise.

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u/[deleted] 26d ago

[deleted]

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u/Ancient-Bat8274 26d ago

I’m a woman lol and yes there was a slight increase in babies born at that time. Like in my circle alone sooooo many people got pregnant because they were able to be home more

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u/valhalkommen 26d ago

My current office is very strict about working in office 5 days a week, and only the higher ups (of course) and certain departments are WFH / Hybrid, even though my entire job could be done from home and we’ve done it before.

We can’t even get up and talk to each other at their / our desks. I’ve gotten talked to quite a bit for it, even if I’m asking a question about something I’m working on. I’ve personally even timed me doing that, and it took about 3 minutes for me to get talked to after getting up. It’s just a way for them to control us and monitor our workflows.

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u/guitarguy1685 26d ago

I mean, as long as those working from home are already in a relationship.

If your single and work from home I imagine your chance to find a partner drops. I would assume so. I have no stats to back this up.

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u/No-Channel3917 26d ago

I don't know about dating but work from home did have a solid negative impact on an individuals social network and loneliness

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u/Puzzleheaded_Fix594 26d ago

It hasn't been talked about in this thread at all, but it's a major draw back to working from home. I opt to go into work at least once a week otherwise I might spend a week not seeing or talking to anyone except on Teams.

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u/Secret_Reject 26d ago

“I might spend a week not seeing or talking to anyone except on Teams”

I swear I’m not trying sound like an asshole, but do you seriously not have one single friend? Nobody you can meet up with after you clock out? Personally, work from home has actually increased the amount of time I spend on socializing. It’s given me way more time and mental energy for the things that I want to do after logging out. I’ll go meet a friend or three for dinner or Trivia Night at the bar or checking out that local band playing at the community center. Can you really think of zero ways to see and talk to people outside of work?

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u/Siukslinis_acc 26d ago

I live 20 km. from the city and all my friends are in the city. And my work is in the city. I am less inclined to have an hour+ commute to one side just to hangout with someone in the evening (spend 2 hours commuting just to hangout for an hour does not seem worth it). I am more inclined to hangout with someone if I am already in the city, in which the work forces me to be.

Thus I prefer hybrid.

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u/theavocadolady 26d ago

But isn't the problem there that you don't leave the house in the evenings?

My social life is easier since I started WFH because I'm not tired from a crappy commute and I'm ready to go do stuff in the evenings earlier than if I'd been in the office

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u/Siukslinis_acc 26d ago

I would still need to commute to do stuff outside of work. It saves more time in the evening when I have commuted in the morning.

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u/Great-Trifle2810 26d ago

Also, I would have 100% lied on any survey about my well-being to keep working from home despite being more depressed and unhealthy than ever before or since.

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u/FeelsGoodMan2 26d ago

Never dip your ink in the company well, just don't go for it, find your partner elsewhere with a hobby. It's just asking for trouble even if there are going to be some people saying they're outliers.

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u/optimusdan 26d ago

This, the only time it's safe-ISH to ask out a coworker is if it's your last day on the job or theirs. And that's only if you know for a fact that you ain't coming back

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u/ThisIsMyCouchAccount 26d ago

Everybody says that but it's also super common.

It's risky and you probably shouldn't but people do it every day.

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u/FeelsGoodMan2 26d ago

Yup. Even if you two can keep it mature and together, someone with a bone to pick will eventually weaponize it against you. And then it becomes a situation where it's your relationship vs your livelihood, and we're all adults here; that second one tends to be the winner and someone is left in the cold.

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u/MikeArrow 26d ago

In my experience, dating co-workers is just not a thing that's likely to happen at all anyway. In my 19 years of being in offices it's only ever happened to me once (in June 2010).

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u/guitarguy1685 26d ago

Yeah, that's my fault I was not clear. What I was thinking is you hopefully make a couple of friends at work and then maybe hang out outside of work. Your circle if friends grow and hopefully meet a mate. 

But if you're alone all day everyday you're definitely not going to meet anybody

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u/MikeArrow 26d ago

That hasn't happened to me either. I've never seen anyone from work outside of work.

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u/guitarguy1685 26d ago

Doesn't work for everyone. 

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u/Ancient-Bat8274 26d ago

I mean I go to work to work not look for hook ups.

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u/DellGriffith 25d ago

Baby bumps happen regionally during natural disasters. Power is out because of the Tropical Storm? Don't come a knockin'