American Knowledge Workers Experience Less Racial Discrimination and Greater Well-being When Working Remotely Than In Person

Despite increasing racial diversity in the U.S. workforce and the wide prevalence of remote work, it remains unclear how these two factors will converge to shape diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in organizations and worker outcomes such as well-being. The present research addresses this issue by investigating whether 1) workers of color (i.e., workers from non-White racial backgrounds) experience less racial discrimination when working remotely, and 2) workers across all racial backgrounds experience greater well-being when working remotely. In two large-scale surveys of American knowledge workers (N’s = 32,245 and 5,216), we observe that workers of color report fewer experiences of racial discrimination when working remotely than in person, with some evidence that this effect is more pronounced among women of color than men of color. We also find that remote work is associated with greater well-being for workers of all races. We discuss remote work’s potential as an important tool for advancing both DEI and employee well-being within organizations.