Healthy and Happy Working from Home? Effects of Working from Home on Employee Health and Job Satisfaction
Open accessAbstract
In addition to its catastrophic health effects, the COVID-19 pandemic also acts as a catalyst for new forms of work. Working from home (WFH) has become commonplace for many people worldwide. But under what circumstances is WFH beneficial and when does it increase harms to health? The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of specific characteristics of WFH for health (work ability, stress-related physical and psychological symptoms) and job satisfaction among German employees. The study is based on data from a Germany-wide panel survey with employees from different industries (n = 519). Using multiple regressions, it was found that the functionality of the technical equipment at home has positive effects on the health of employees (i.e., ability to work, stress-related symptoms) and job satisfaction. The percentual weekly amount of WFH influences stress-related symptoms, i.e., a higher amount of weekly working time WFH, was associated with more stress-related symptoms. Furthermore, it negatively influences job satisfaction. The feeling of increased autonomy leads to positive effects on employees’ job satisfaction. The results provide starting points for interventions and indicate the need for legal regulations for WFH. Further theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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A high weekly amount of working hours from home is associated with greater stress-related symptoms and negatively influences job satisfaction.
“On the other hand, studies revealed that a high weekly amount of working hours from home is associated with greater stress-related symptoms and negatively influences job satisfaction [3].”
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Who has the most to lose? How ICT demands undermine health‐oriented leadership
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Working from Home and Job Satisfaction: The Role of Gender and Personality TraitsPreprint
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Spanish Workers’ Judgement of Telecommuting during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mixed-Method Evaluation
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“M = 34.05, 95% CI [31.88, 36.23]; p = .218), although the mean scores of male participants were higher than those of female participants.”
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“Furthermore, the sudden shift to remote work has been associated with declines in physical and mental health (Mann & Holdsworth, 2003; Xiao et al., 2021), along with an increase in stress-related symptoms, particularly as the duration of weekly teleworking increased (Niebuhr et al., 2022 ).”
Niebuhr, F., Steckhan, G. M., & Voelter‐Mahlknecht, S. (2022) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph192114107 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Data from the second measurement point were used in a publication focusing on health effects due to WFH [14].”
BackgroundMethodSelf-citationHome sweet home? Arbeits(t)raum Homeoffice
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Working from home and mental well-being at different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Šafránková, J. M., & Šikýř, M. (2024) · Equilibrium Quarterly Journal of Economics and Economic Policy · doi:10.24136/eq.3021 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Such legal regulations should in particular frame the essential WHF conditions (Niebuhr et al ., 2022).”
BackgroundTelework Practices and Health Risks of Teleworkers
Cheng, Y., Lee, P.-W., Lin, R., Ko, J. R., & Cheng, W. (2025) · Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine · doi:10.1097/jom.0000000000003366 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“36 However, in our study, there was no difference in self-rated health between teleworkers and their age-and gender-matched counterparts.”
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“Niebuhr et al. (2022) report a negative association of weekly hours WFH and employment satisfaction.”
Effect of active breaks on stress and musculoskeletal discomfort during work in office workers
Rabal-Pelay, J., Cimarras-Otal, C., Coscolla-Palma, S., Burillo-Villuendas, A., Villalba-Ruete, J. A., & Bataller-Cervero, A. V. (2025) · Sport Sciences for Health · doi:10.1007/s11332-025-01488-6 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
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Motivation to work remotely in the face of organizational and cost conditions
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Remote working – A boon or bane with regards to employee’s performance and job satisfaction
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“One of the most common and reliable measures of overall wellness at work is satisfaction with the job, which measures how effectively employees' expectations are met by their work environment (Niebuhr et al., 2022).”
BackgroundOnyancha, O. B. (2023) · Journal of Media Literacy Education · doi:10.23860/jmle-2023-15-3-8 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“The medical ramifications associated with working from home are far-reaching (see de Oliveira et al., 2022; Hao, et al., 2022; Niebuhr, et al., 2022; MacDonald, 2022).”
BackgroundZhao, J., & Ren, H. (2025) · The Professional Geographer · doi:10.1080/00330124.2025.2516849 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“Instead, we argue that the relationship between WFH and life satisfaction is likely to be influenced by varying intensities of WFH (Bundesministerium f € ur Arbeit und Soziales [BMAS] 2020; Niebuhr et al. 2022).”
Iswahyudi, M. S. (2023) · West Science Interdisciplinary Studies · doi:10.58812/wsis.v1i02.46 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Pietrzyk, K., & Szczepańska, A. (2022) · Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Administratio Locorum · doi:10.31648/aspal.8102 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…Pamidimukkala & Kermanshachi, 2021; Ogunnusi et al., 2020; infrastructure sector – Jallow et al., 2020; the other – Meyer et al., 2021; Yu et al., 2021; Lancet, 2020; Buselli et al., 2020; Spoorthy et al., 2020; Saragih et al., 2021; Muller et al., 2020; Niebuhr et al., 2022; ParentLamarche, 2022).”
BackgroundDampak Gaya Kepemimpinan, Kepuasan Karyawan, Budaya Organisasi, dan Kinerja Keuangan di PT. XYZ
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“The results of numerous studies suggest that flexible working hours with more autonomy for the workers culminate in higher satisfaction and performance (Niebuhr et al. 2022).”
Xue, H., Din, N. N. O., Balakrishna, S., & Zainal, N. (2024) · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · doi:10.6007/ijarbss/v14-i1/20475 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Towards a Practical Study: Unraveling Job Satisfaction Through Models and Measurement Tools
Bayad, O., & Touri, B. (2024) · Journal of Educational and Social Research · doi:10.36941/jesr-2024-0053 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
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“…greater individualization, loss of cohesion between teams, and even the control of teams challenge (e.g., Atkinson, 2022; Magalhães et al., 2020; Niebuhr et al., 2022; Wharton, 2012), we can say that The Company gets closer to this model when bringing fl exibility to work management,…”
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“Employing a single-item measure to represent employee attitudes is a common practice in social sciences, offering validity similar to that of multiple-item measures in capturing complex constructs, as evidenced by studies like Melián-González et al. [71] and Niebuhr et al. [72].”
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Effect of hybrid working on employee engagement
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Social Well-Being Strategies for Academics Working in a Hybrid Work Environment
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“( RP4, female, Aged 37, Lecturer, 11 years of work experience) Management support as a social resource is a critical job resource that promotes a healthy working environment in the context of the HWE (Niebuhr et al., 2022).”
The impact of telecommuting on productivity in a pharmacy-led refill management program
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Responding to followers' warning signals
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Munkavállalói elégedettség a home office-szal a Covid alatt és után
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- Authors
- Niebuhr, F., Borle, P., Börner-Zobel, F., & Voelter-Mahlknecht, S.
- Affiliations
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
- Institute of Occupational Medicine, Charité—Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353 Berlin, Germany
- Corresponding author
- Niebuhr, Fiona
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2022-01-20
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 1122
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8834350
- OpenAlex
- W4206726490
- Cited by
- 155
- References
- 38
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 37 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 16
- FWCI
- 49.26
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Technostress in Professional Settings
- Keywords
- working from home, employee health, job satisfaction, work ability, stress-related symptoms, psychological symptoms, somatic symptoms, home office equipment, autonomy, COVID-19 pandemic, remote work, legal regulation of remote work
- MeSH terms
- COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, Humans, Job Satisfaction, Occupational Health, Pandemics
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