Federal Reserve Bank of New York researchers said Monday that the pandemic-era acceleration of remote work is connected to a measurable increase in unemployment among younger workers. The researchers estimate that about 64% of the rise in joblessness among recent college graduates ties directly to the shift toward distributed work models.
The research team published their findings in a blog post, outlining how the change in workplace logistics has altered hiring and training practices. “Accordingly, companies may be reluctant to hire less-experienced workers in distributed work arrangements,” the authors wrote. Remote work “makes it more difficult for managers to train and mentor new employees,” they added.
Employment data shows the divergence in outcomes between age groups. Workers younger than 29 experienced an average unemployment rate of 3.1% from 2017 to 2019. That figure rose to an average of 3.7% between 2022 and 2025. At the same time, the unemployment rate for more experienced college graduates declined from 1.9% to 1.8%.
To isolate the effects of remote work, the researchers analyzed data comparing “remotable” and “non-remotable” occupations, measuring how readily the common tasks in a given job can be performed away from a central office. The analysis also incorporated proprietary data provided by an unnamed Fortune 500 company.
The authors said the physical separation inherent in remote work disrupts the informal learning processes that typically occur in a shared office space. “We show that when people work next to their colleagues, they receive more feedback on their output and more mentorship,” the authors wrote. “When they are separated by even a short distance, that feedback tapers off dramatically.”
The loss of feedback is particularly acute for early-career employees. “The loss in feedback is more pronounced for younger workers, who miss out on constructive comments that spur their development,” the authors wrote.
Not all labor market researchers agree with the assessment. Nicholas Bloom, an economics professor at Stanford University who studies remote work, noted that companies offering remote positions frequently maintain on-site opportunities for staff, CNBC reported.
“I don’t think there is any evidence this is slowing employment,” Bloom said. “Indeed, quite the reverse, as it’s easier for people to work and so labor supply looks to be rising.”
The findings arrive as employers and workers continue to navigate the structural changes to the U.S. labor market. The disconnect between established employee retention and early-career hiring friction points to ongoing adjustments in how organizations manage distributed teams.