Many workers across the country are now back in the office for the majority of their time, feeling more isolated than ever.
A recent study by New York Fed researchers found that about half of office workers do not describe their daily work experience as consistent with the goals many employers have set when increasing in-person requirements.
Whether it’s a 3-day, 4-day, or 5-day commitment, companies cite the importance of creative collaboration and mentorship opportunities for business productivity and growth. But workers surveyed by the New York Fed said they spend endless Zoom calls and Slack, leaving little time for face-to-face contact.
“Days spent in the office are often characterized by a lack of human contact,” the researchers wrote. Specifically, 48.8% of survey respondents said they had no in-person meetings with teammates or non-teammates on their most recent day in the office.
There are many reasons why there is a disconnect between office job duties and actual experience.
Roughly 1 in 4 workers now work fully remotely, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics cited by the New York Fed, which says it “likely underestimates the explosive growth in remote experiences with coworkers.”
Researchers say that with teams spread across more offices (an effect that researchers say has become more pronounced in post-COVID-19 organizational structures), many workers are “missing” their obligations and employers are not strictly enforcing them, resulting in in-office employees “commuting only to take Zoom calls and respond to Slack messages from their cubicles.”
A New York Fed paper by New York Fed research economist Natalia Emanuel and University of Virginia economics professor Emma Harrington concludes that “an alarming proportion of workers are experiencing this form of in-office remote work.”
The survey was conducted in September among a final sample of 1,835 college-educated workers. The researchers chose September to provide a “conservative estimate” because many companies encourage people to come to work after the summer ends, and there is less remote work between Labor Day and Thanksgiving than during the holiday period.
The study found that on any given day they are in the office, 70.6% of employees have at least one teammate who is not in the office. Meanwhile, half were not holding in-person meetings with all participants present, and more than a third were not holding in-person or hybrid meetings.
“Surprisingly, 37% of respondents reported having at least one virtual meeting, even though all participants were in the same office that day, meaning many employees’ commute times simply create a new backdrop for Zoom calls,” they write.
They cited the example of Zoom CEO Eric Yuan, who said in 2023, “It’s very difficult on Zoom. You can’t have great conversations. You can’t argue well with each other.”
However, the researchers concluded, “If office discussions are also conducted over Zoom, the benefits of the office may not be as great.”
The authors say that separate data obtained from HR and badge swipe data on the employee base of Fortune 500 companies shows that nearly half of corporate employees have at least one teammate who is away from the office on the days they are in the office. Additional data from the BLS American Time Use Survey similarly shows that “Americans now spend more time physically alone on their work day than before the pandemic,” they said.
Other recent Gallup polling data found that worker sentiment is at a 15-year low.
The New York Fed authors caution that their study does not capture relationships with non-teammates or the direct interactions between employees and customers, often outside of the office. They also highlight that workers who come to the office often cite meeting colleagues as a big draw. “However, since remote work has become widespread, offices are increasingly unable to provide this benefit,” they write.
They argue that this research has practical implications for both employers and employees.
First, the experience of remote work is far more widespread than understood and can have many impacts, including mental health issues.
Second, post-pandemic organizational structures may not be optimal for making internal mandates work. In fact, it may only lead to further backlash.
However, the authors do not conclude that employers should waive their obligations. On the contrary, they wrote, “Ensuring compliance with policies will help provide the face-to-face contact that workers crave.”
Read the full research paper.
