Workplace loneliness is on the rise, and it is most certainly a trend that’s best addressed at once. Having a circle of colleagues to rely on at work always eases some of the stress of the job, making the experience of coming in to work less cumbersome for everyone. Loneliness at work can lead to many issues, like disinterest and absenteeism at work. More importantly, it leaves employees feeling alienated from their workplace. The hidden costs of workplace loneliness can catch a business unaware at the most inopportune moments, making it a smart move to resolve the issue early on.
Workplace loneliness is on the rise, and it’s going to take a dedicated team of HR professionals to fix it. (Image: Pexels)
Understanding Workplace Loneliness and Its Impact in 2025: Now Is the Time for Change
We watched the decline of workplace friendships unfold in real time during the pandemic, and things have never been the same ever since. A new report from Reward Gateway | Edenred found that nearly 40% of US workers report feeling isolated at work. When broken down into generational differences in how loneliness is reshaping the workplace, the numbers are highest among Millennials and Gen Z, adding up to 49% and 40% respectively. Gen X and Baby boomers are no strangers to the experience, however, they do report lower levels of loneliness at work, at 35% and 15%.
Considering the changing times and their impact on the workforce, it is no surprise that workers are feeling isolated. Remote and work-from-home setups may have a long list of benefits, but they do take away some of the positives of working with colleagues face-to-face. The most significant example of this is the lack of opportunities to get to know each other on a deeper level during breaks and through casual workplace interactions.
With layoffs simultaneously dominating the conversation across industries, employees have watched many of their colleagues clear their desks and leave. Back in the day, many employees would also choose to follow their coworkers out or at least start a conversation with the new hire, but with the lack of hiring plans among businesses, they now have AI to turn to for company. Employees also have no choice but to put their heads down and focus on their work for fear of being the next person asked to leave, leaving little room for socialization.
The Hidden Costs of Workplace Loneliness Can Wear Employees Down
Meetings aren’t enjoyable without a coworker to debrief about all the ways it went awry, and lunch breaks can get boring without a colleague to share packed lunches with. Job satisfaction can take some damage in the absence of a trustworthy friend, with 63% of respondents agreeing that workplace friendships significantly contribute to their satisfaction with work.
Low satisfaction often means low motivation to perform, despite other benefits attached to improved performance. It’s also worth mentioning that poor satisfaction can also mean low retention. Almost 24% of employees have thought about leaving their jobs for a new opportunity due to the lack of workplace friendships.
Employee loneliness affects productivity and collaboration, limiting employee enthusiasm for taking on any additional tasks. Employees refrain from suggesting new ideas when they know they have to work with a ragtag bunch of strangers if they exercise their imagination. Aspects like this kill the spirit of creativity and ambition, and as a result, attempts to bring workers together are also met with resistance. Thus, the cycle continues, escalating the problem from bad to worse.
Team Building Activities Need to Evolve
Workplace loneliness and its impact in 2025 are apparent, so one might assume that simple team-building activities would be enough to help them draw closer to coworkers. The data disagrees. Despite workplace loneliness being on the rise, only 47% of employees participate in team-building or socialization activities arranged by employers. Millennials, to their credit, are more receptive to these activities, with 60% engaging with these opportunities. On the other hand, only 43% of Gen Z comply. The rates fall even lower for Gen X and Baby Boomers, dropping to 43% and 33% respectively.
The higher adoption rate among some generations may make it easier for them to address their higher rates of workplace loneliness, but dividing this engagement into generations can be counterproductive. Our workforce today is multigenerational, with older workers still making up a large portion of it. And if Millennials attend team-building activities in isolation, it becomes much harder to bridge the gaps between the age groups.
To address employee loneliness and bring down the turnover costs that are often attached to the problem, it is essential to ensure that these unifying activities evolve to suit the preferences of the workforce. Understanding the reasons for worker reluctance to attend these team-building events is only the first step to bringing the workforce closer together.
Get Creative With Employee Engagement and Improve the Culture at Work
Employees at your workplace may not appear particularly lonely, especially not the Gen Z workers and their now-popular stares, but successfully disguising the symptoms is not enough to make them go away.
Making employees feel more connected to each other and to the workplace requires more than an RTO policy to bring them in to collaborate face-to-face. It requires HR to understand where employees currently stand and provide them with the support to bring them out of their shells.
Addressing Workplace Loneliness Can Involve:
- Conducting surveys and collecting feedback on the type of team-building activities workers might enjoy
- Increasing skill-training opportunities where employees don’t just feel forced to socialize, but have an opportunity to improve themselves in key career-focused areas
- Organizing hobby workshops instead of the gamified training sessions that employees appear to be resistant to
- Digging deeper into problems in the company culture to understand why employees don’t get along
- Improving on-the-job collaboration between teams that don’t always get to meet face-to-face
- Improving conflict management systems to ensure tensions within the workplace are addressed
- Creating psychological safety at work so employees feel more comfortable opening up
- Balancing workloads and improving delegation so employees are less burdened and are mentally freer to connect with colleagues
- Connecting remote employees with their colleagues and checking in on their progress and well-being
Loneliness Reshapes the Workplace: Undoing It Can Have Beneficial Results
Employers and HR workers have a fair bit of work on their plates, and aspects like workplace friendships may not appear to be a convincing priority. All the same, matters of workplace loneliness affect employees in multiple ways, limiting the progress of the organization as a whole. Addressing the problems that lead to loneliness at work can allow a lot of other factors, like productivity and engagement, to fall into place better, allowing the business to reach its other goals with greater ease.
Employers should understand the experiences of workers in detail, designing opportunities for collaboration that suit their needs rather than make matters more convenient for the business. Running through a list of generic team-building activities may have worked in the past, but the modern-day iterations of the problem require modern solutions.
Have you witnessed the impact of workplace loneliness at your organization? Share your experience with us. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.