# A New Study Found Remote Workers Are Happier and Less Likely to Quit, Even as CEOs Push Return to Office

> A study of more than 7,700 employees found fully remote workers reported the highest well being and were less likely to quit, complicating return to office pushes from CEOs like Dimon and Musk, according to Fortune.

- Source: Money Standard
- Canonical URL: https://moneystandard.co.uk/article/remote-workers-report-higher-well-being-less-likely-to-quit-study-finds
- Author: Money Standard Newsroom
- Section: Business
- Published: 2026-08-21T10:43:12.338Z
- Updated: 2026-08-21T10:43:12.338Z
- Tags: Remote Work

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A large new study is complicating the case CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Elon Musk have been making for return to office mandates, according to Fortune. Researchers tracked 7,704 employees at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, split roughly a quarter fully remote, a quarter hybrid, and half entirely onsite, and published their findings in Frontiers of Psychology in July 2026.

Fully remote employees reported the highest overall well being, spanning physical, mental, emotional, social, and financial health, while onsite workers scored lowest on the same measures. The researchers also found little evidence that remote staff felt less connected to coworkers or to their company's culture, a common worry cited by executives pushing for a full return.

The well being gap mattered a year later. Employees who scored higher on well being, including the remote workers who led those scores, were less likely to have left their organization, suggesting remote arrangements were tied to stronger retention rather than weaker engagement.

That finding runs counter to the stance taken by some of the country's most prominent executives. JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon has required his roughly 300,000 person workforce back in the office five days a week, arguing remote work suits only certain roles like call centers. Tesla's Elon Musk has gone further, telling staff to log 40 hours a week in office or leave.

Study co-author Stefanie Johnson pushed back on the assumption behind those mandates, saying simply bringing people back into a building will not automatically make them more engaged. She argued that if companies actually want collaboration, mentoring, innovation, or a stronger culture, they need to design experiences that produce those outcomes directly, rather than assuming physical presence alone will do it.

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Originally published by Money Standard. Free to cite with attribution and a link to https://moneystandard.co.uk/article/remote-workers-report-higher-well-being-less-likely-to-quit-study-finds.