Remote work reshaped working lives and brought flexibility and improved work-life balance, but created gaps from lack of face-to-face interaction. Early-career workers face reduced feedback, guidance and mentorship, increasing feelings of being lost and fostering impostor syndrome. Searches for "impostor syndrome" surged 75% in 2024, with higher prevalence among marginalized groups. Concerns about confidence loss motivate return-to-office mandates, although data suggests those concerns are overstated and many RTOs are real-estate driven. The absence of casual affirmations during in-person interactions makes workers assume they're falling behind. Seven daily practices, including documenting daily wins, can help rebuild confidence.
Remote work has completely reshaped our working lives, and the benefits are, of course, innumerable. But there are a few downsides, namely the gaps that can be created by the lack of face-to-face interaction. Especially if you're early in your career, this lack of feedback, guidance and mentorship can leave some workers feeling a bit lost, and a confidence killer is often ready and waiting to fill that vacuum: impostor syndrome.
The lack of guidance inherent to remote work and the reduction in confidence it can sometimes cause is one of the key reasons often cited by business leaders for issuing return-to-office mandates, though it's important to note that most data says this concern is overstated (and most RTOs are about real estate anyway). Be that as it may, that gap is real, and there is data to suggest it is hitting workers' confidence increasingly hard.
It's not conclusively known what's causing the surge, but it's easy to surmise that the way work has changed in recent years is having an impact, especially on younger workers. "The shift to remote work has been amazing for flexibility and work-life balance," explained Jason Morris, CEO of SEO agency Profit Engine and an expert on the workplace. "But... when you're not getting those casual 'great job' moments in the hallway or seeing colleagues nod in agreement during meetings,
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