{"id":14153,"date":"2026-07-10T10:33:08","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T08:33:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.company-move.de\/?p=14153"},"modified":"2026-07-10T10:41:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T08:41:57","slug":"homeoffice-und-isolation-beitrag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.company-move.de\/en\/homeoffice-und-isolation-beitrag\/","title":{"rendered":"Homeoffice und Isolation [Beitrag]"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Employees Home Alone: When Working from Home Becomes Isolation<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHome office is considered one of the greatest achievements of modern work \u2013 flexible, family-friendly, productive. However, a recent US study reveals a lesser-known side: around a third of the increase in psychological stress since the pandemic can be attributed to remote work.\u00b9 People living alone are particularly affected. The reason is that work is much more than just earning a living. It creates social contacts, structure, and a sense of belonging \u2013 things that can quietly disappear in home office situations without being noticed at first.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\u201eSurprisingly, it's not the direction of the findings that is surprising, but their clarity.\"\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\u2014 Heike Ohlbrecht, Sociologist, Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg<\/cite>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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The silent retreat: Isolation in home office in numbers<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe data is clear: around one-third of the increase in psychological distress in the US since the coronavirus pandemic can be attributed to mobile working.\u00b9. Those who do not live in a household are particularly affected. A comparison of two groups \u2013 employees with and without the option of working from home \u2013 showed a significant increase in time spent alone and a significantly more frequently reported feeling of psychological distress among employees working from home.\u00b9 People who live alone do not compensate for reduced social interaction at work through more private meetings in their free time.\u00b9\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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What research on home office and mental health shows<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Sociologist Heike Ohlbrecht from Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg assesses the underlying study as empirically convincing, but points out that the findings cannot be classified as clear causality.\u00b9 For her, the clarity of the results is particularly noteworthy \u2013 they show that companies are not only places of performance, but social spaces in which friendships, community, recognition, and belonging emerge.\u00b9 This social integration space can erode through home office and thus weaken the social integration of employed people in the long term.\u00b9 Work itself also creates incidental social contacts daily \u2013 such as the brief exchange in the break room \u2013 and brings together people who would otherwise never have met. Research refers to these as \u201ebridging ties.\u201c\u00b9<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The Vicious Cycle of Loneliness and the Role of Companies<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tParticularly revealing is the observation that lost social contacts from everyday work life are not compensated for elsewhere. Ohlbrecht suspects a reinforcing effect behind this: Fewer social contacts in professional life can lead to social isolation becoming entrenched beyond paid work \u2013 a possible vicious cycle that already begins with the experienced loneliness at the workplace.\u00b9 However, a blanket \u201eback to the office\u201c is not a solution for Ohlbrecht: Given the advantages of flexible work models, this is neither realistic nor goal-oriented. \u00b9 The real challenge for companies lies rather in combining the advantages of home office with genuine opportunities for social interaction. \u00b9\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Together, not alone \u2013 our offers against isolation in everyday work<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Company Move supports companies with practical offerings that specifically address social connection and mental health:<\/p>