Homeworking is increasing loneliness among young people and causing them to feel cut off from colleagues, according to the LifeSearch Health, Wealth and Happiness Index.
The research, compiled with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) monitors changes in the three indices individually and combined.
It showed that overall 40% of home workers report feeling lonely and isolated working from home, but this rose significantly for under-35s, with 52% saying homeworking made them feel lonely while 49% felt cut-off from colleagues.
Three in five (61%) younger people also missed the team morale and workplace community.
The research also showed 31% of people working from home found it more stressful than being in the office, but this rose to 38% of younger people.
Around a third (32%) of younger workers felt they worked too much – compared with 29% overall.
Just over a third (34%) of Brits said they had worked more hours since the pandemic started, but this increased to 42% of younger people, with one in nine (11%) of under 35s saying they were working at least 10 hours extra per week.
This contrasted with over 55s who were more likely to be working fewer hours than they did before the pandemic.
More job demands (43%), time spent not commuting (25%) and finding it hard to switch off at home (24%) were the top reasons why people said they were working more.
But for younger workers, needing the extra money was also a key factor, with 26% saying this was the reason for putting in additional hours.
Commenting on the findings, Emma Walker, chief marketing officer at LifeSearch, who commissioned the study, said: “While working from home can bring many benefits, we have found that younger people in particular have struggled with this shift, both practically – they are more likely not to have a suitable home working environment – and emotionally, with feelings of loneliness and isolation higher in this age group.
“With younger people more likely to live alone, or to share with housemates or a young family, and therefore be competing over working space, it is perhaps understandable that this age group will have found it tougher to move to a home-based environment.”
Walker said there was reason for optimism, noting those who wanted to return to the office for a bit of normality should be able to begin to do so, helping mitigate feelings of loneliness, isolation and being cut off from the workplace.
“However, this will no doubt continue to prove a challenge for employers to address the balance and differing needs of a multi-generational workplace,” she added.