JUNE 8, 2026

Study finds remote workers experience more social isolation, depression, and anxiety than in-person workers

A study published in the journal Science found that workers in jobs that allow remote work reported higher rates of depression, anxiety, mental health provider visits, and prescription psychiatric medication use compared to workers in jobs that cannot be done remotely. The research, led by Natalia Emanuel, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, drew on data from five large national surveys of American workers. Researchers compared "remotable" occupations such as software engineering and marketing against "non-remotable" ones such as surgery and mechanical engineering.

The study's central finding is that workers in remotable jobs experienced a 58% rise in hours spent alone during the workday compared to workers in non-remotable jobs, and a 72% increase in the likelihood of spending an entire day with no human contact at all, according to Emanuel and her colleagues.

Remote workers were also found not to compensate for lost workplace social contact with more socializing after hours. Emanuel said the data showed "a decrease in spending time with friends after the work day relative to people in non-remotable occupations." Workers in remotable jobs additionally reported more symptoms of emotional distress on a standardized questionnaire measuring anxiety and depression, and used more prescription psychiatric medications.

The effects were most pronounced for remote workers who live alone. That group saw an 83% increase in the chance of spending a full day with no social contact, and reported mental distress at nearly twice the rate of remote workers living with family, according to Nicholas Epley, a professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business, who reviewed the study but was not involved in it.