Ss35-03 Navigating the Return to the Office: An Ecological Momentary Assessment of Stress, Work Pleasure and Relatedness in Older Office Workers

Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has increased remote work and hybrid working is becoming common post-pandemic. This study’s objective is to observe how work location (home or office) affects the daily well-being (i.e., daily perceived stress and daily work pleasure) of older-aged office workers (aged ≥ 45), particularly regarding the role of relatedness with co-workers. Materials and Methods Using a smartphone-based ecological assessment survey, we measured work location, daily perceived stress, work pleasure, and relatedness among 109 older-aged office workers from a Dutch organization (N total = 201). This took place during the first week of each month from April to June 2022 (e.g. directly after post-governmental measure relaxation). At baseline, demographic data like sex and job tenure for control variables were collected. Multilevel regression analyzed daily responses to explore how work location, relatedness, and their interaction impact daily well-being. Results The work location (home or on-site) on a given day does not significantly affect either daily perceived stress or daily work pleasure, but does positively affect relatedness. Relatedness is associated with reduced daily perceived stress levels and enhanced daily work pleasure. There is no significant interaction between relatedness and work location regarding well-being outcomes for older office workers. Conversely, an additional supportive analysis on younger office workers (aged < 45, N = 87) demonstrates that working on-site does indeed exhibit stronger relatedness effects than remote work. Conclusions The role of relatedness with co-working is important for hybrid workers for younger workers, but seems to be less important for older workers.