The benefits of remote work are not equally distributed — impacts vary between employee groups

Finnish Institute of Occupational Health media release 16 June 2025

Remote work can offer a quieter environment for better concentration as well as more freedom to decide how we spend our time; however, at the same time, it can decrease our experiences of community and creativity. A recent study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health examined the impacts of remote work by comparing different employee groups statistically over one year.

The results draw a multidimensional picture of the potential benefits and disadvantages of remote work.

"According to our research, remote work can undermine trust and the sense of community, as it reduces face-to-face encounters and positive interactions between colleagues. These disadvantages of remote work are often the same for different groups, while the benefits are distributed more unevenly," says Janne Kaltiainen, Specialist Researcher at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.

Remote work can reduce the burden of those working independently

The benefits of remote work were most apparent in employees whose work is not strongly linked to the work of others and does not directly affect the work of others. Those working independently experienced a less excessive workload and fewer conflicting expectations in remote work.

However, remote work did not alleviate the workload for those employees whose work requires collaboration, coordination and receiving information from others.

"The impacts of remote work can also be different in the same work community. When deciding on the amount of remote work, in addition to individual wishes, the structures and dependencies of work as well as the perspective of the entire community should also be considered," Kaltiainen emphasises.

Supervisors benefit less from remote work than employees

The impacts of remote work are different for supervisors and employees. For supervisors, remote work may have impaired on-the-job learning, but this was not observed in employees. For employees, remote work was associated with the most positive assessments of co-workers’ performance, whereas such a positive connection was not observed among supervisors.

According to Researcher Sampo Suutala, the challenges of remote work can be emphasised in a supervisory role, which often requires a broad understanding of the situation and needs of one’s team.

"When supervising remote work, it is easy to miss out on small hints and informal discussions. This makes it harder for the supervisor to get to know their team. It is important that workplaces encourage employees to take the initiative to raise issues," Suutala says.

Remote work can enrich the lives of men with children in particular

Remote work was not observed to have a direct impact on work-life balance at the level of the entire data. However, the connection varied from employee group to employee group.

According to the study, for families with children, remote work may strengthen the positive experience of the impacts between work and free time. This was particularly evident in men with children. On the other hand, for men who did not live with children, the enriching impact of work on their free time could even be weakened in remote work. No similar associations were observed in women.

"Remote work does not necessarily make everyday life easier or improve the work-life balance equally for everyone. One possible explanation may be that remote work increases the time spent with the family, especially among men with children, thus strengthening the positive mutual impacts of work and free time," says Kaltiainen.

How workplaces can increase the benefits of remote work

1. Deliberately strengthening a sense of community

   The employer can strengthen the trust and resources of the work community by arranging opportunities for face-to-face interaction and informal discussions.

2. Agreeing on the practices of supervising remote work together

   The supervisor does not have to come up with solutions alone. Mutually agreed rules support trust, streamline work and strengthen commitment.

3. Making community a shared responsibility

   Everyone has a role to play in building the work community. Support can be shown through small actions — by staying in touch, listening and taking others into consideration in everyday life.

Study: Engagement and Social Connections in Multi-location Work

• The study is based on the Engagement and Social Connections in Multi-location Work project by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health. The project will continue until 30 September 2025, when a more extensive information package on research findings concerning multi-location work will be published. The main funder of the study is the Finnish Work Environment Fund.
• The data was collected in three phases during 2023–2024, and a total of 1 195 employees participated in each phase. This report looks at the 876 respondents who responded to all three surveys and worked at least 10% of their working hours remotely at all times.
• The study examines the potential impacts of remote work on, for example, well-being at work, trust, the sense of community, the amount and quality of interaction, creativity and work-life balance.
• Report (in Finnish, pdf): Etätyön hyödyt ja haasteet – tutkimushavaintoja HYMY-hankkeesta

Further information

Janne Kaltiainen, Specialist Researcher, janne.kaltiainen@ttl.fi, +358 50 476 5980

Sampo Suutala, Researcher, sampo.suutala@ttl.fi, +358 50 563 0131