Remote Employment, Dignity, and Satisfaction at Work

• In Event: Organizational Drivers of Economic Inequality (Co-sponsored by Inequality, Poverty, and Mobility Section)

Abstract

Many industrialized countries have witnessed rapid growth in remote employment over the past decade, with such jobs projected to comprise nearly one-quarter of all employment by 2030. This expansion raises fundamental questions for scholars of work and inequality. Existing research offers competing expectations: remote work may undermine satisfaction and dignity by weakening social integration and visibility, or enhance them through increased autonomy and flexibility. We ask: What is the relationship between remote work, workplace satisfaction, and dignity, and how does that relationship vary across social groups? Drawing on two decades of nationally representative U.S. data, we estimate (1) differences in reported satisfaction and dignity between remote and on-site workers; (2) the extent to which autonomy, pay, occupational status, and social-relational dynamics with supervisors and coworkers account for these differences; and (3) heterogeneity in these patterns by gender, race/ethnicity, education, and occupational status. We find a consistent remote-work advantage in reported satisfaction and dignity, partially explained by greater autonomy and more favorable workplace relationships. However, these returns are uneven: women experience weaker gains from remote work, a pattern consistent with gendered domestic responsibilities and more limited perceived advancement opportunities in remote roles. By identifying work location as a consequential dimension of stratification, our findings extend classic sociological debates about the organization of work, the sources of worker dignity, and the evolving foundations of inequality in postindustrial labor markets. By identifying work location as a consequential dimension of stratification, our findings highlight the spatial arrangements of work as a core mechanism through which organizations structure dignity and inequality.

Authors

• Vincent J. Roscigno, The Ohio State University

• Laura Doering, University of Toronto