In a new survey study, Dutch employees who worked from home tended to report higher levels of productivity and less burnout if they were more satisfied with their home office setup. The study also linked more air ventilation in the home office to higher self-reported productivity.

Martijn Stroom and colleagues at Maastricht University in the Netherlands report these findings in the open-access journal PLOS ONE on August 7, 2024.

In recent years, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic and technological advancements, working from home has become the "new normal" for many workers who otherwise would have worked in offices. Researchers are increasingly exploring factors that may influence job satisfaction and productivity among employees who work from home, such as whether a particular job is well-suited for remote work.

However, few studies have looked at potential links between productivity, job satisfaction, and the physical home office environment.

To address this knowledge gap, Stroom and colleagues surveyed 1,002 Dutch at-home workers about various characteristics of their home offices, as well as about their productivity, job satisfaction, and related measures. They applied statistical tools known as logistic regressions and structural equation models to identify links between the various factors.

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