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More than one third of Australians now regularly work from home. And while the arrangement was largely necessary during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (when 40% of us worked from home), these days, working from home has become a preference for many. In fact, one-in-five of us would sacrifice wages to be able to work flexibly from home. The ‘WFH’ (working from home) era seems very much here to stay.
Let’s be clear, though: not everyone can or should work from home. You’d be pretty nonplussed to call 000 only to find out that the fire department was working remotely that day. But, for those of us who regularly do our jobs outside the office, it’s worth considering the potential health impacts of working from home.
So, can our new preferences for home-based work actually affect our health? We asked Dr Michael Wheeler from Deakin University’s Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition.
‘Flexible work’ is, in itself, quite a flexible term. The Fair Work Ombudsman includes work arrangements like flexible start and finish times, flexible rostering, and compressed hours in its definition. It also includes working from home. This doesn’t necessarily mean that employees in flexible work arrangements will work from home 100% of the time – for many, moving between working from home and the office or on-location is part of the ‘hybrid’ model of flexible work.
There are plenty of debates around working from home. How does working from home affect productivity? Can people effectively collaborate remotely? What does team culture look like in a remote environment? One question that Wheeler thinks deserves more focus, though, is around the potential health impacts of working from home.
‘I think this is currently missing from the public debate on working from home,’ Wheeler says.
‘The short answer is we don’t know what the health impacts of working from home are. However, we suspect there would be different impacts on physical health for two main reasons.’
The first reason, according to Wheeler, is that a person’s environment can influence their behaviours, including physical activity levels (or a lack thereof). The second is that COVID-19 lockdowns showed us that people working from home tended to be less active – and ‘it is well known that lower physical activity is linked to poorer health outcomes,’ Wheeler says.
On that second point, Wheeler says the question now is whether that COVID-era evidence still applies. Deakin University PhD candidate Lisa Becker is currently recruiting for a research trial to assess this question.
When it comes to working from home, Wheeler says the health implications are rarely black and white.
‘The answer is probably not “WFH is good” or “WFH is bad,” but “it depends for whom and under what conditions,’ he says.
When it comes to the advantages and disadvantages of working from home, context matters — there’s no ‘one size fits all’ approach.
‘The really interesting thing about this is that different work environments are likely to suit different people depending on a number of factors like commute length and type (i.e. car vs bike), caring responsibilities, housing quality, housing location (access to green spaces), whether someone has a dedicated workstation, job autonomy, and the level of social support from managers and colleagues,’ Wheeler says.
So, are there really health benefits to working from home? Here’s what Wheeler has to say.
Working from home removes a long or stressful commute to work
Sitting in traffic or spending hours each day commuting to work can be frustrating, but one study suggests that commuting can also risk exposing us to damaging pollutants, while traffic jams can cause ‘mental strain, lower satisfaction of leisure time and poor mental health overall.’
Working from home makes it easier to fit in sleep, exercise, meal preparation, or family responsibilities
Working from home might be one way to make space for healthy habits. For instance, Wheeler uses the example of fitting in sleep – something that is ‘crucial for mental health’ according to Beyond Blue – an idea supported by research that suggests that those working from home tend to sleep longer. One (non-academic) study also finds that working from home increases the available time for (and likelihood of) physical activity like exercise, which is vital for preventing everything from heart disease to depression and anxiety.
As Wheeler explains, there are also some potential health disadvantages to working from home.
It’s easier to become too sedentary
It’s not just for the office – health and safety are important when working from home, too. Studies have found that sedentary behaviour increases (and daily steps decrease) when working from home which might be bad news for our health, considering sedentary behaviour has been linked to health issues like weight gain, anxiety and cancer.
Non-ergonomic WFH setups can be hazardous
Offices and other worksites tend to be set up to facilitate work. Working from home, on the other hand, can be much more casual or haphazard – leading to the potential for negative health issues.
‘Poorer home workstation setups, laptop-based work, and less suitable furniture might lead to musculoskeletal pain,’ says Wheeler.
WFH can result in social isolation or lower quality social interaction
Working from home can be isolating – especially if you’re working from home full time. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare suggests that social isolation is linked with negative health outcomes like ‘mental illness, emotional distress, suicide, the development of dementia, premature death and poor health behaviours’.
While there are both positive and negative health impacts of working from home, the same can be said for on-site or office-based work.
Wherever you work, Wheeler says that there may be some real health benefits to being there in-person.
More incidental movement
While intentional exercise is important, working on-site can lead to even more beneficial movement as you go about your day.
‘Getting ready, walking to transport, walking between meetings, and leaving the house all create opportunities for movement that can disappear on WFH days,’ Wheeler says.
Healthy commute options
It’s certainly not realistic for all of us but, where possible, Wheeler suggests that choosing a more active commute to work could be a boon for our health.
‘Walking or cycling to work is associated with better health outcomes than inactive commuting,’ he says.
While we complain about trivial office issues like missing our pets at home or choosing daily outfits, there are potentially serious health issues, too. Here’s Wheelers’ take.
Shared office spaces can increase exposure to illness
When we breathe the same air as dozens of others – as is common in on-site and office environments – there might be a risk of increased exposure to illness. For instance, one study shows an increase in office infections on mandatory attendance days.
Stressful commutes
As we mentioned earlier there are genuine health concerns associated with long or stressful commuting. Besides the exposure to pollutants and risk of mental strain as already suggested, Wheelers says that inactive commuting can ‘eat into time for sleep and exercise’.
Working from home is a fact of life for many of us in the post-lockdown world. If you do work from home, consider adding these small health tips from Wheeler into your daily routine:
‘Don’t wait until the end of the day to “make up” for sitting,’ he says. ‘Build movement into the workday itself. For example, stand up or walk for a couple of minutes every 30 to 60 minutes, take calls standing, use walking meetings where possible, and create small cues to move between tasks.’
On the mental health side, Wheeler says it’s important to protect boundaries and social contact to improve working from home health.
‘A clear start and finish time, a real lunch break away from the screen, and regular non-transactional contact with colleagues can help reduce isolation and work-home spillover,’ he says.
