Workplace Loneliness: The Hidden Crisis Hurting Your Team’s Performance

We all know work look different today than it did 20, 10, or even 5 years ago. The shift we’ve seen from fully in-person work being the norm, to hybrid or fully-remote jobs being common, has brought with it an epidemic that some are calling “workplace loneliness”. According to Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, 1 in 5 employees feels lonely at work. This newfound disconnection may not be for the reasons we would expect, though. It turns out simply bringing people back into the office doesn’t solve loneliness – it will take more in-depth, structural changes to help this crisis.

The Reality of Workplace Loneliness

In their new report, “Understanding and Addressing Work Loneliness“, Hadley & Wright define loneliness as a “distressful experience of having a higher desire for social connection than what is subjectively experienced while working”. This lack in connection is tied to a number of negative outcomes in employees, such as poor mental health, being disengaged and unmotivated in their work, and can even raise employee turnover rates by inspiring a desire to quit in the most lonely employees. Employers may be tempted to believe this is an issue for the individual; that a lonely person will be lonely regardless of the job they’re in. But loneliness levels can vary greatly from one job to the next for individuals, meaning this isn’t a reflection of the employees, but rather a reflection of the companies they work for. in fact, 81% of the study’s participants, regardless of loneliness level, wished for stronger social connections with their coworkers. Loneliness in the workplace isn’t just an employee problem – it’s a business problem.

Why Office Presence Alone Won’t Solve the Problem

Some employees are particularly susceptible to being lonely at work, junior employees and recent hires being among them. But those you may think would be the most vulnerable to this problem, fully remote workers, actually don’t show the highest rates of loneliness. Hadley & Wright found that the participant group that felt the most lonely at work reported that they conducted nearly half of their past month’s work in person. In the same vein, simply being a part of a team does not improve loneliness either.

So what does that tell us about the problem? Two things:

1. This problem won’t be fixed by simply mandating that employees return to the office full time.
2. There must be a different factor that serves as the biggest contributor to workplace loneliness.

It’s All in the Culture

The first thing your organization needs to do is to look at the culture it encourages. Workplaces that are seen as “toxic, hostile, or transactional” make creating workplace bonds very unlikely. Negative undercurrents that may already exist in your organization, like malicious gossip, cliques, or even prejudice, can alienate employees and make it nearly impossible to cultivate a comfortable work environment. The responsibility must fall on managers to ensure that these behaviors aren’t tolerated in a workplace, before you can even attempt to create positive social bonds among employees.

Once this basic step is covered, your organization can work towards doing more to promote a positive culture that encourages social ties among employees. Three of the biggest cultural factors identified by study participants that served to reduce feelings of being lonely at work were:

1. An Inclusive, Welcoming Environment – Leaders and managers actively work to create a culture of connection, rather than of competition.
2. A Focus on Relationship-Building – Social interactions aren’t seen as distractions, but as essential to team cohesion.
3. A Commitment to Downtime – Overworked employees don’t have time to invest in casual interactions that are key to creating trust and connection.

What Are the Pros Doing?

Successful companies don’t just rely on a “return to office” mandate – they focus on workplace culture and takes actionable steps to create meaningful connections among their employees. In their study, Hadley & Wright found that “74% of the highly lonely group advocated for their employers to do more to support building work relationships, along with 42% of the least lonely employees”. The most basic suggestions included encouraging more group discussions, making sure everyone is introduced to each other, and encouraging employees to lean on one another for workplace support. Making sure that vacant positions are filled in a timely manner, and that there are enough employees to do the work that is expected, is also key to helping employees feel less isolated or lonely at work.

What Actually Works: The Social Strategies Employees Want

Beyond basic culture changes, what specific activities did the study identify as being universally ranked highest among all participants, regardless of loneliness level? Free communal lunch, meetings that devote time to personal chitchat, and happy hours. Food and drink activities all around were highly rated by participants, serving as a morale booster and providing a relaxed environment for socialization.

One important thing to note is that these relationship-building activities should be offered regularly and should not be viewed by management as a loss of productivity. Recognizing these events as an important part of promoting and maintaining a healthy workplace environment demonstrates your company’s commitment to your employee’s well-being and further encourages participation of those employees who are lonely at work already and may feel hesitant about a social activity.

The Power of Offsite Retreats

Hadley & Wright’s study found that the group you may think would have the highest rates of loneliness, remote workers, expressed a strong interest in offsite retreats. While offsite retreats are helpful for all employees, fully remote employees seemed to be the most interested in this type of social gathering. Retreats offer the opportunity of unstructured social time, which allows remote or hybrid teams to connect in a much more meaningful way than is allowed by simple video meetings. Companies that make offsite retreats a regular part of their culture see stronger bonds among employees and a more cohesive work environment.

The reality is workplace loneliness isn’t just an individual issue or an employee problem – it’s a business problem with real consequences for your company. The most successful companies are those that don’t just pretend to care about fixing the issue, but actually address the root causes of workplace loneliness. When you are shown to care about your employee’s well-being, you benefit as much as they do. By embracing an inclusive workplace culture with regular social initiatives, your organization can build a stronger, happier, and more efficient workforce.