60% of U.S. workers don't have jobs that can be done remotely.
Among those whose jobs can be done remotely, 57% rarely or never worked from home prior to Covid. But now that they have, 60% say they would continue to work from home if given the choice.
The primary reason they say they want to continue working from home is because it allows them to have better life/work balance (64%). But at the same time, 60% of them also acknowledge that working from home has made them feel less connected to co-workers. (Parker, Horowitz & Minkin, 2022)
In the U.S. loneliness has been on the rise since 2015, especially among younger demographics. Roughly 30% of Millennials report feeling lonely all or most of the time. (Johnson, 2021)
Prior to the start of Covid, this rise was attributed to social media.
But perhaps, rather than the standard rationale that social media makes people lonely because their lives don't measure up to others, the reason social media makes people feel lonely is because online interactions cannot take the place of IRL interactions.
Research shows that acute social isolation causes social craving, similar to the way that fasting causes hunger. And it only takes 10 hours of social isolation for effects to be felt. (Tomova, Wang, Thompson, Matthews, Takahashi, Tye & Saxe, 2020)
Research also shows that video interactions do not combat loneliness.
It seems to be a vicious cycle. The lonelier they are, the more they go on social media trying to connect. But the more time people spend on social media, the lonelier they get. (Lampraki, Hoffman, Roquet & Jopp, 2022)
Human beings are social creatures. So it stands to reason that more human contact is likely to make people happier.
Yet, as we have seen people are not always tuned in to what makes them happy and what doesn't. That's why so many people still buy things when experiences make most people happier in the long run.
Do you think that people will be happier if they go back to the office? Will certain demographic groups be better off staying home? What about MBTI preferences? Which types might be happier going to the office and why?
Is the time you spend on social media negatively affecting your happiness? If so, what are you doing about it?
Parker, K., Horowitz, J & Minkin, R.(2022, February 16) Covid-19 Pandemic Continues To Reshape Work in America. pewresearch.org. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2022/02/16/covid-19-pandemic-continues-to-reshape-work-in-america/
Johnson, M. (2021, December 3) Why Loneliness Is on the Rise. psychologytoday.com. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-brain-and-value/202112/why-loneliness-is-the-rise
Tomova, L., Wang, K., Thompson, T., Matthews, G., Takahashi, A., Tye, K. & Saxe, R. (2020, November 23) Acute social isolation evokes midbrain craving responses similar to hunger. nature.com. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-020-00742-z
Lampraki, C., Hoffman, A., Roquet, A., & Jopp, D. (2022, march 30) Loneliness during Covid-19: Development and influencing factors. journals.plos.org. Retrieved May 2, 2022, from
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0265900
4 comments:
I think people are happier back in the office. The epidemic has blocked many opportunities for close human contact, and people usually stay at home and lose many opportunities to interact and communicate. People who are back in the office will be more productive and enjoy their time off work. But this does not mean that all people, some introverted people also line more suitable for home office, they have their planning and arrangements, do not need too much communication, and can also complete their work, perhaps the MBTI INxx type of people. More extroverted people, like ESxx types, are suitable for office work.
Social media is a waste of human time. People are fake on social media, and many photos and videos tend to cause psychological anxiety in other people. I would not say I like social media much. Being blocked from home by the epidemic, I have pets that help me calm my anxiety, and reading books gives me a mental breakthrough as a whole.
I believe most people will be happy to be back in the office. The coronavirus has split people that are supposed to be together away. Many People that stayed home will feel a sense of unwillingness of working since the environment is too comfortable compared to the workplace. However, there are some people who still like to work at home and felt comfortable and more productive. Moreover, people at home cannot be able to socialize well, since they aren't in in-person communication.
I think while I'm using social media doesn't negatively affect my happiness, instead, I thought it's something that helps to support me being happier, but I still believe it's just a support tool and shouldn't be used as the main one for social.
For single people to come to the office to work may be happier, because it has more opportunities to get along with friends, for me to stay alone for a long time will be very easy to be depressed, it is difficult to say, because I also do not like to stay with my own unfamiliar people, I prefer to stay with my family and pets, it will be a very relaxed state. Just need to seriously get the job done, but to be honest, during covid-19, a lot of departments implemented remote work, their productivity became significantly lower, maybe because it was too pleasant at home, away from the supervision of the leadership, everyone relaxed.
Honestly yes and no, I believe a hybrid option is the best of both worlds. Even though some jobs do not require interactions with people , I feel as if you develop better relationships when you know the person on the other end of the email. They are more receptive and willing to work things out with you if needed. Perhaps employers can do a monthly meeting where associates all come in to collaborate or meet.
I have seen people that were introverts get worse from being away from people during the pandemic. I have also seen extroverts like myself, get a little more me time, causing me to focus on myself and work on things I was too distracted to focus on before.
As much as I loved making my own schedule and working from home, I have seen how much productivity was disrupted by people not being responsible enough to do their work. I think it made managers work doubly hard to check in make sure people were doing their job , and that they were ok.
I don't spend much time on social media,( maybe a little too much tiktok,) but it does not affect my happiness at all. If anything Seeing places I want to travel to fires e up to figure out plans to do it.
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