Gallup’s extensive employee engagement research – presented in its recent State of the American Workplace report – suggests that the ability to work remotely corresponds with higher engagement, but primarily among those who spend less than 20% of their total working time doing so. Among those who never work remotely, 28% are engaged – meaning they are emotionally involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work – while 20% are actively disengaged, meaning they are unhappy at work and tend to disrupt their coworkers’ productivity. The remaining on-site workers fall into a middle category – not engaged. Among employees who spend up to 20% of their time remotely, 35% are engaged – but engagement levels drop as employees spend more time off-site.

Of course this doesn’t mean remote work can’t be engaging, but likely reflects current management (and the immaturity of the way collaborative and social technologies are currently being used in most organisations).