Remote workers report highest well-being in 7,700-employee study

A study of over 7,000 workers confirms that fully remote employees report the highest well-being, while full-time office workers report the lowest.

Researchers at the Leeds School of Business analyzed survey data from 7,704 healthcare employees to measure how work location affects health and team culture. Fully remote staff scored highest on overall well-being, followed by hybrid workers, with onsite staff coming in last. Surprisingly, remote employees were also slightly more likely to describe their workplace culture as supportive and inclusive than those in the office.

Why it matters: Higher well-being isn't just a soft metric—it directly predicted lower turnover one year later. Many return-to-office mandates are driven by executive habit rather than evidence, despite data showing that forced office time hurts morale and retention.

Co-author Stefanie Johnson notes that in-person time still helps early in your career to build initial trust. But once relationships exist, cutting employee autonomy mostly just adds commute stress and logistics headaches.

Turns out, trusting people to choose where they work actually works.