THE EMPTY OFFICE

TEO

What is the relationship between teleworking and well being?

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What is the relationship between teleworking and well being?

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Project

Teleworking: a key issue of our time

Telework is one of the most important legacies of the pandemic. Following its massive use dictated by the stay-at-home policies imposed around the world, remote jobs are now more than four times pre-pandemic levels in many of the world’s major economies. Given this evolution of telework, many analysts predict that it will grow further and become increasingly important to our lives, generation after generation. How we will govern these new forms of work will depend on the answers that research will be able to provide to whether, for whom, and how telework affects people’s quality of life and well-being.
Objective

Teleworking and well-being: an international study

We study the relationship between telework and well-being using a mixed-methods approach. An international, interdisciplinary team will collect quantitative and qualitative data on teleworkers in Switzerland, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, providing new insights into this field of study. The research spans economics, sociology, family studies and health psychology, which focuses on how social and psychological factors influence people’s quality of life.
Approach

Why social relationships matter

We use Social Network Analysis for the first time in telework research. We collect data on 3200 personal networks of teleworkers in these four European countries. We create a large database of workers’ contacts, testing hypotheses regarding the impact of working from home on social support, conflicts, interruptions and control mechanisms. In doing so, this project sheds light on the mechanisms linking telework and well-being with a specific focus on social relations, contributing to a further understanding of how telework is changing people’s lives.
Project

Teleworking: a key issue of our time

Telework is one of the most important legacies of the pandemic. Following its massive use dictated by the stay-at-home policies imposed around the world, remote jobs are now more than four times pre-pandemic levels in many of the world’s major economies. Given this evolution of telework, many analysts predict that it will grow further and become increasingly important to our lives, generation after generation. How we will govern these new forms of work will depend on the answers that research will be able to provide to whether, for whom, and how telework affects people’s quality of life and well-being.
Objective

Teleworking and well-being: an international study

We study the relationship between telework and well-being using a mixed-methods approach. An international, interdisciplinary team will collect quantitative and qualitative data on teleworkers in Switzerland, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, providing new insights into this field of study. The research spans economics, sociology, family studies and health psychology, which focuses on how social and psychological factors influence people’s quality of life.
Approach

Why social relationships matter

We use Social Network Analysis for the first time in telework research. We collect data on 3200 personal networks of teleworkers in these four European countries. We create a large database of workers’ contacts, testing hypotheses regarding the impact of working from home on social support, conflicts, interruptions and control mechanisms. In doing so, this project sheds light on the mechanisms linking telework and well-being with a specific focus on social relations, contributing to a further understanding of how telework is changing people’s lives.

Impacts of remote work on individuals' well-being

Research team

Black and white portrait of the principal coordinator of The Empty Office, Mattia Vacchiano.

Mattia Vacchiano

University of Geneva

Mattia Vacchiano is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Geneva. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He was SNSF Senior Research at the University of Lausanne (2018-2021) and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Buenos Aires (2016). His research focuses on work and everyday life as a source of inequality. He analysed issues related to psychological health, life trajectories and careers, especially among young people. His main theoretical and methodological expertise is social capital theory and social network analysis.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Stephanie Steinmetz.

Stephanie Steinmetz

University of Amsterdam

Associate professor at the University of Amsterdam, she currently holds an ERC consolidator Grant. Her main research inter- ests are web survey methodology, gender inequalities and comparative labour market research. She is a member of the EU- founded COST Action 'WEBDATANET: Web-based data collection - methodological challenges, solutions and implementa- tions' and the Dutch eHumanities group.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Melanie Arntz.

Melanie Arntz

IAB

Melanie Arntz is Vice-Director of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) based in Nuremberg (Germany). Her research focuses on how changing labour market conditions, such as an increasing digitalization of work tasks and the proceeding international division of production processes, affects employment and wage outcomes. She is coordinator of the research area “Digitalisation and Structural Change” and has a long record of research projects and research-oriented policy consulting. She has been appointed to the Labour Council of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in 2022.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Eric Widmer.

Eric Widmer

University of Geneva

Eric Widmer is professor at the Department of Sociology of the University of Geneva. His long-term interests include intimate ties, family and other interpersonal relations, life course research and social networks. Eric Widmer has developed an approach to families as configurations and has been conducting over the years a series of empirical research on couples, siblings, blended families and mobile families.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, koorosh massoudi.

Koorosh Massoudi

University of Lausanne

Koorosh Massoudi is an associate professor of lifelong career development at the University of Lausanne. He is director of the Master’s teaching program in career counselling and vocational psychology, and a researcher in the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research (LIVES). His activities focus on the study of the challenges of contemporary careers and their impact on workers’ health and employability. Moreover, he collaborates with public institutions and private organizations, aiming at the dissemination and implementation of scientific knowledge at the workplace.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Nicola Cianferoni.

Nicola Cianferoni

SECO

PHD in Socioeconomics, he is specialized in working conditions in the public and private sectors. He is author of the "Working in retail. Will the working day become a social issue again?" (Editions Seismo, 2019) as well as several scientific publications. As a scientific collaborator in the Labour and Health Section of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) he has addressed issues related to teleworking, health and work schedule. He is a member of the editorial team of the journal Les Mondes du Travail.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Manal Azzi.

Manal Azzi

Internation Labour Organization

PhD in Occupational Safety and Health Policy, since 2004 she has been working as an health officer in the LABADMIN/OSH branch at the ILO. This entails work in the area of health promotion including the prevention of stress, in addition to using the world of work as a platform for the promotion of healthy behaviors. She has also worked on delivering OSH management systems in the workplace and promoting the ILO conventions 155 and 187 to develop policies and programmes and strengthen national systems on OSH including inspection mechanisms in numerous countries.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Sander Junt.

Sander Junte

UAB

Sander Junte is PhD of the Sociology program at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His research interest orbit in the field of sociology of work. Current and previous research projects focused on the impact of digitalization of work on labour conditions and the regulation of technology from a comparative industrial relations-framework.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Oscar Molina.

Oscar Molino Romo

UAB

Associate Professor at Autonomous University of Barcelona, he holds a master degree in Economics at Pompeu Fabra University (1998) and a PhD in Social and Political Science at the European University Institute (EUI-Florence). After working as research assistant at the Robert Schuman Centre, he has been government of Ireland post-doctoral researcher at the Industrial Relations and Human Re- sources Group, University College Dublin (2005-2007) and ICREA Researcher at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He has taught courses on industrial relations and sociology of work in Europe.
Black and white portrait of the principale member of The Empty Office, Guillaume Fernandez.

Guillaume Fernandez

University of Geneva

Guillaume is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Geneva. His research interests include social network analysis, sociolinguistics, and social identification. In addition to his role in the TEO project, he works as a scientific collaborator on the SNF project IdNet, which explores the social identification processes unfolding within the personal networks of young adults in Switzerland.

Black and white portrait of the associate member of The Empty Office, Eva Pedrosa.

Eva Padrosa Sayeras

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Eva Padrosa is a professor at the Hospital del Mar Nursing School (Universitat Pompeu Fabra-affiliated) and a public health researcher in the Social Determinants and Health Education Research Group. Her research focuses on precarious employment, social inequalities, and mental health. She also coordinates a forthcoming master's in research methodologies for health professionals.
Black and white portrait of the associate member of The Empty Office, Stephane Cullati.

Stéphane Cullati

University of Fribourg

Dr. Stéphane Cullati is Senior Lecturer in epidemiology and a public health. He has published more than seventy articles, book chapters and books in collaboration with scholars in Europe and around the world dealing with a wide range of public health issues. He participates in this project as President of the European Society for Health and Medical Sociology (ESHMS). ESHMS will support the project by disseminating the results through its channels and by organizing a dedicated workshop at the next biennial conference.

Research team

Black and white portrait of the principal coordinator of The Empty Office, Mattia Vacchiano.

Mattia Vacchiano

University of Geneva

Mattia Vacchiano is a lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Geneva. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. He was SNSF Senior Research at the University of Lausanne (2018-2021) and a Visiting Fellow at the University of Buenos Aires (2016). His research focuses on work and everyday life as a source of inequality. He analysed issues related to psychological health, life trajectories and careers, especially among young people. His main theoretical and methodological expertise is social capital theory and social network analysis.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Stephanie Steinmetz.

Stephanie Steinmetz

University of Amsterdam

Associate professor at the University of Amsterdam, she currently holds an ERC consolidator Grant. Her main research inter- ests are web survey methodology, gender inequalities and comparative labour market research. She is a member of the EU- founded COST Action 'WEBDATANET: Web-based data collection - methodological challenges, solutions and implementa- tions' and the Dutch eHumanities group.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Eric Widmer.

Eric Widmer

University of Geneva

Eric Widmer is professor at the Department of Sociology of the University of Geneva. His long-term interests include intimate ties, family and other interpersonal relations, life course research and social networks. Eric Widmer has developed an approach to families as configurations and has been conducting over the years a series of empirical research on couples, siblings, blended families and mobile families.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Melanie Arntz.

Melanie Arntz

IAB

Melanie Arntz is Vice-Director of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) based in Nuremberg (Germany). Her research focuses on how changing labour market conditions, such as an increasing digitalization of work tasks and the proceeding international division of production processes, affects employment and wage outcomes. She is coordinator of the research area “Digitalisation and Structural Change” and has a long record of research projects and research-oriented policy consulting. She has been appointed to the Labour Council of the German Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs in 2022.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Manal Azzi.

Manal Azzi

Internation Labour Organization

PhD in Occupational Safety and Health Policy, since 2004 she has been working as an health officer in the LABADMIN/OSH branch at the ILO. This entails work in the area of health promotion including the prevention of stress, in addition to using the world of work as a platform for the promotion of healthy behaviors. She has also worked on delivering OSH management systems in the workplace and promoting the ILO conventions 155 and 187 to develop policies and programmes and strengthen national systems on OSH including inspection mechanisms in numerous countries.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Nicola Cianferoni.

Nicola Cianferoni

SECO

PHD in Socioeconomics, he is specialized in working conditions in the public and private sectors. He is author of the "Working in retail. Will the working day become a social issue again?" (Editions Seismo, 2019) as well as several scientific publications. As a scientific collaborator in the Labour and Health Section of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) he has addressed issues related to teleworking, health and work schedule. He is a member of the editorial team of the journal Les Mondes du Travail.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, koorosh massoudi.

Koorosh Massoudi

University of Lausanne

Koorosh Massoudi is an associate professor of lifelong career development at the University of Lausanne. He is director of the Master’s teaching program in career counselling and vocational psychology, and a researcher in the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Life Course Research (LIVES). His activities focus on the study of the challenges of contemporary careers and their impact on workers’ health and employability. Moreover, he collaborates with public institutions and private organizations, aiming at the dissemination and implementation of scientific knowledge at the workplace.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Oscar Molina.

Oscar Molino Romo

UAB

Associate Professor at Autonomous University of Barcelona, he holds a master degree in Economics at Pompeu Fabra University (1998) and a PhD in Social and Political Science at the European University Institute (EUI-Florence). After working as research assistant at the Robert Schuman Centre, he has been government of Ireland post-doctoral researcher at the Industrial Relations and Human Re- sources Group, University College Dublin (2005-2007) and ICREA Researcher at Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. He has taught courses on industrial relations and sociology of work in Europe.
Black and white portrait of the principal member of The Empty Office, Sander Junt.

Sander Junte

UAB

Sander Junte is PhD of the Sociology program at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. His research interest orbit in the field of sociology of work. Current and previous research projects focused on the impact of digitalization of work on labour conditions and the regulation of technology from a comparative industrial relations-framework.
Black and white portrait of the principale member of The Empty Office, Guillaume Fernandez.

Guillaume Fernandez

University of Geneva

Guillaume is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at the University of Geneva. His research interests include social network analysis, sociolinguistics, and social identification. In addition to his role in the TEO project, he works as a scientific collaborator on the SNF project IdNet, which explores the social identification processes unfolding within the personal networks of young adults in Switzerland.
Black and white portrait of the associate member of The Empty Office, Stephane Cullati.

Stéphane Cullati

University of Fribourg

Dr. Stéphane Cullati is Senior Lecturer in epidemiology and a public health. He has published more than seventy articles, book chapters and books in collaboration with scholars in Europe and around the world dealing with a wide range of public health issues. He participates in this project as President of the European Society for Health and Medical Sociology (ESHMS). ESHMS will support the project by disseminating the results through its channels and by organizing a dedicated workshop at the next biennial conference.
Black and white portrait of the associate member of The Empty Office, Eva Pedrosa.

Eva Padrosa Sayeras

Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Eva Padrosa is a professor at the Hospital del Mar Nursing School (Universitat Pompeu Fabra-affiliated) and a public health researcher in the Social Determinants and Health Education Research Group. Her research focuses on precarious employment, social inequalities, and mental health. She also coordinates a forthcoming master's in research methodologies for health professionals.

Publication of Key Scientific Outputs

Scoping Review on Telework and Well-Being

Vacchiano, M., Fernandez, G., & Schmutz, R. (2024). What’s Going on With Teleworking? A Scoping Review on Its Effects on Well-Being.

Published in PLOS ONE

Research Protocol of The Empty Office

Vacchiano, M., Fernandez, G., Widmer, E., et al. (2024). The Empty Office: Protocol for Sequential Mixed-Method Study on the Impact of Telework Activities on Social Relations and Well-Being.

Published in BMJ Open

Systematic Review on Telework, Social Support, and Well-Being

Vacchiano, M., Fernandez, G., & Fernandez-Garcia, J. (2025). Mediating Effects of Social Support Between Telework and Well-Being: Protocol for a Systematic Review

Published in BMJ Open

Conferences and invited talks

Sunbelt Social Network Conference

Vacchiano, M. The Empty Office: a Network Study of Teleworking. Oral Presentation, (ISNA) Sunbelt XXXIX, Edinburgh (Scotland), 24-29st June

Swiss Sociological Association Conference

Vacchiano, M. What’s Going on with Teleworking? A Scoping review on Its Effects on Wellbeing. Oral presentation, Swiss Sociological Association Conference, Basel, 8-9th September 2024

LIVES day

Vacchiano, M. What’s going on with teleworking? LIVES day, 1st June

Life after LIVES

Vacchiano, M. The Empty Office: an international Study of Teleworking.Life after LIVES, 20th June 2024

University of Buenos Aires

Vacchiano, M. La oficina vacía : un estudio internacional sobre el teletrabajo, University of Buenos Aires, 22th December 2023

News

FOPH funds systematic review on telework & well-being

New co-funding from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) for a systematic review on telework and well-being.

Discover more

Large-scale survey on telework in Europe, data available in 2025

Conducted a large-scale survey with 4400 teleworkers across Switzerland, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, collecting data on 27,000 social relations. Data accessible publicly in December 2025 on SwissUbase

Discover more

Six-month workshop at the University of Geneva on qualitative data collection

A six-month workshop at the University of Geneva (Spring 2025) based on the project is involving Master’s students in Sociology in a qualitative data collection with Network Canvas.

Discover more

Two-day workshop on Network Canvas in Geneva

A two-days workshop with Prof. Bernie Hogan (Oxford Internet Institute) on Network Canvas is scheduled for March 6-7, 2025, in Geneva.

Discover more

Eva Padrosa Sayeras awarded visiting scholar position in Geneva

Eva Padrosa Sayeras (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) joined the project and was awarded a visiting scholar position at the University of Geneva from January to April 2025.

Discover more

Call for papers for special issue in Social Indicators Research

A call for papers for a special issue based on the project data will be launched soon in Social Indicators Research (expected 2025-2026).

Discover more

Publication of Key Scientific Outputs

Scoping Review on Telework and Well-Being

Vacchiano, M., Fernandez, G., & Schmutz, R. (2024). What’s Going on With Teleworking? A Scoping Review on Its Effects on Well-Being.

Published in PLOS ONE

Systematic Review on Telework, Social Support, and Well-Being

Vacchiano, M., Fernandez, G., & Fernandez-Garcia, J. (2025). Mediating Effects of Social Support Between Telework and Well-Being: Protocol for a Systematic Review

Published in BMJ Open

Research Protocol of The Empty Office

Vacchiano, M., Fernandez, G., Widmer, E., et al. (2024). The Empty Office: Protocol for Sequential Mixed-Method Study on the Impact of Telework Activities on Social Relations and Well-Being.

Published in BMJ Open

Conferences and invited talks

International Sunbelt Social Network

Vacchiano, M. The Empty Office: a Network Study of Teleworking. Oral Presentation, (ISNA) Sunbelt XXXIX, The International Sunbelt Social Network Conference, Edinburgh (Scotland), 24-29st June

International Sunbelt Social Network

Vacchiano, M. The Empty Office: a Network Study of Teleworking. Oral Presentation, (ISNA) Sunbelt XXXIX, The International Sunbelt Social Network Conference, Edinburgh (Scotland), 24-29st June

LIVES day

Vacchiano, M. What’s going on with teleworking? LIVES day, 1st June

Life after LIVES

Vacchiano, M. The Empty Office: an international Study of Teleworking.Life after LIVES, 20th June 2024

University of Buenos Aires

Vacchiano, M. La oficina vacía : un estudio internacional sobre el teletrabajo, University of Buenos Aires, 22th December 2023

News

FOPH funds systematic review on telework & well-Being

New co-funding from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) for a systematic review on telework and well-being.

Discover more

Large-scale survey on telework in Europe, data available in 2025

Conducted a large-scale survey with 4400 teleworkers across Switzerland, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, collecting data on 27,000 social relations. Data accessible publicly in December 2025 on SwissUbase.

Discover more

Six-month workshop at the University of Geneva on qualitative data collection

A six-month workshop at the University of Geneva (Spring 2025) based on the project is involving Master’s students in Sociology in a qualitative data collection with Network Canvas.

Discover more

Two-day workshop on Network Canvas in Geneva

A two-days workshop with Prof. Bernie Hogan (Oxford Internet Institute) on Network Canvas is scheduled for March 6-7, 2025, in Geneva.

Discover more

Eva Padrosa Sayeras awarded visiting scholar position in Geneva

Eva Padrosa Sayeras (Universitat Pompeu Fabra) joined the project and was awarded a visiting scholar position at the University of Geneva from January to April 2025.

Discover more

Call for papers for special issue in Social Indicators Research

A call for papers for a special issue based on the project data will be launched soon in Social Indicators Research (expected 2025-2026).

Discover more

THE
EMPTY
OFFICE

SNIS-funded research explores telework’s social impact, shedding light on support, conflicts, and control mechanisms, enhancing our understanding of its influence on individual lives.
This is an .svg image of the logo of the funding foundation Sniss.
This is an .svg image of the logo of the University of gENEVA
© The Empty office 2024. All rights reserved. Design Marco Spinelli Studio
Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

THE
EMPTY
OFFICE

SNIS-funded research explores telework’s social impact, shedding light on support, conflicts, and control mechanisms, enhancing our understanding of its influence on individual lives.
This is an .svg image of the logo of the funding foundation Sniss.
This is an .svg image of the logo of the University of gENEVA
Privacy Policy Cookie Policy
© The Empty office 2024. All rights reserved.
Design Marco Spinelli Studio