Abstract

The widespread adoption of Work from Home (WFH) arrangements in the Information Technology (IT) sector during and after the COVID-19 pandemic has raised substantive concerns regarding the mental health of professionals navigating the convergence of occupational and domestic environments. Depression — a leading contributor to global disability burden — has been identified as a particularly salient risk in remote work contexts, where social isolation, boundary erosion, and reduced access to organizational support may compound individual vulnerabilities. This study investigated the prevalence of depressive symptoms and their key predictors among IT professionals engaged in WFH in Kochi, Kerala. A cross-sectional survey was conducted with 240 IT professionals (120 WFH, 120 Work from Office [WFO] as comparison group), stratified by gender (120 men, 120 women). Depression was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), a validated nine-item instrument yielding scores across five severity categories. Predictor variables included work hours, social support, role ambiguity, workspace ergonomics, and perceived work-life conflict. Findings indicate that WFH professionals recorded significantly higher mean PHQ-9 scores (M = 9.84, SD = 4.12) than WFO professionals (M = 6.21, SD = 3.78), corresponding to mild-to-moderate and minimal depression classifications respectively. Female WFH professionals exhibited higher depression severity than male WFH counterparts. Logistic regression identified social isolation, work-hour extension, and inadequate ergonomic environment as the strongest predictors of clinically significant depressive symptoms. These findings underscore the urgent need for organizational mental health strategies specifically tailored to the remote IT workforce.