Loneliness at work: How to solve the £2.5 billion wellbeing challenge

As part of World Mental Health Day 2022 we explored the impact of loneliness at work and what support looks like for different groups.

Why is workplace loneliness important?

More than half of UK adults have experienced loneliness at work in the last 12 months. Due to the rising cost of living many people are also scaling back on socialising, leading to concerns about a loneliness epidemic in 2023.

Loneliness at work costs UK employers an estimated £2.5 billion a year due to staff turnover, reduced productivity and poor health. It also of course has a negative impact on employee wellbeing and mental health; 68% of employees who have felt lonely say it increases levels of stress at work. Long-term loneliness can lead to mental health conditions including anxiety and depression.

Why do people experience loneliness at work?

For this article, People Insight spoke to Liana Persico about her research into loneliness at work, and what the findings mean for organisations. Said Liana:

“For the final part of my MSc in Organisational Psychiatry and Psychology at King’s College London, I explored how employee feelings of workplace isolation and workplace loneliness are affected by two factors; supportive workplace behaviours (like a colleague offering help to someone who is falling behind on a task) and task interdependence (the extent to which employees work together).

In the study, we surveyed employees from a number of organisations, both office-based and remote workers, to ask whether they felt isolated from their colleagues (colleague isolation), isolated from their organisation (company isolation), and whether they felt lonely at work.

Surprisingly, our study found that ‘task interdependence’ – in other words, working closely with colleagues – didn’t have much impact on the relationships between workplace isolation, loneliness and wellbeing. Simply being around colleagues won’t reduce feelings of isolation. Instead, supportive or meaningful interactions between colleagues are needed.”

What can managers do to prevent loneliness at work?

For managers and leaders interested in improving employee wellbeing and employee engagement, tackling workplace loneliness should be high on the list for 2023. Yet only 8% of employees feel comfortable talking to their manager about loneliness and hybrid working makes it harder to spot the signs.

Liana’s research above shows that simply bringing colleagues together in person or encouraging more collaborative work isn’t enough to combat loneliness at work.

To truly overcome loneliness, colleagues must build meaningful friendships and support one another. While managers cannot force friendships, they can create space and opportunities so team members can have these meaningful interactions. For example by:

• Checking in often with team members to ask how they feel and give them the space to share. If you work remotely, encourage colleagues to switch their cameras on for your conversations so you can get a sense of how they are doing.
• Creating opportunities for your team, and other colleagues, to reconnect and socialise. For remote teams, this might see the return of virtual quizzes or pub nights. While for hybrid teams, you could alternate between virtual and in-person social events. With the cost-of-living crisis meaning people are going out less, these social events are vital.
• Asking employees for honest feedback via confidential pulse surveys. You might choose to measure employee wellbeing or remote working specifically or gather wider feedback about what it’s like to work at your organisation.
• If available, encouraging employees to use Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) to access help and support for loneliness.
• Assessing whether your policies or ways of working could be preventing meaningful connections. For example, a closed-plan office layout may be physically dividing teams, flexible working hours may mean team-members are rarely online together, or a competitive culture may encourage mistrust between colleagues rather than a healthy rivalry.
• Organising team-building activities so colleagues have a chance to form bonds and get to know one another better.

Find more ideas for effective wellbeing initiatives for remote workers. 

New research shows younger workers are twice as likely to feel lonely at work

Although loneliness at work can affect all employees, research has identified that certain groups are most at risk. A study by Mental Health UK and YouGov discovered that employees aged 18-24 are twice as likely to feel lonely at work than others.

When asked about the factors influencing feelings of loneliness, younger workers felt strongly about the impact of a ‘lack of contact time with [their] immediate team or manager’ or the ‘lack of a physical space to work from/meet colleagues’.

With three-quarters of employers now offering hybrid working, there’s a real risk that younger generations will continue to feel disconnected and unhappy unless changes are made. As well as changes to how we work, the rising cost-of-living has led many young people to dramatically reduce socialising. While a necessary change, it is likely to lead to further feelings of isolation for this group, meaning that meaningful interactions between colleagues will become even more vital.

Yet despite loneliness being prevalent in this group, 69% of 18-24 year olds group feel uncomfortable speaking up about it. Supporting younger employees comes down to managers building strong employer employee relationships and encouraging meaningful connections between colleagues.

How can managers reduce loneliness at work for younger employees?

• Check-in regularly with team members but consider how you communicate. 72% of Generation Z would prefer a phone call to an instant message.
• Employee onboarding is a chance to introduce new starters to their peers. Consider a ‘buddy’ system for new joiners from this group, as well as creating an onboarding process that encourages employees to get to know their new colleagues.
• Feeling lonely at work may be down to younger employees not feeling they can be their true selves (at People Insight, this is a key measure in any Diversity & Inclusion survey). As well as impacting how comfortable they feel, this might be holding people back from forming meaningful connections.
• Make time at the start of calls to ask about peoples’ weekends or discuss interests outside work.
• Review hybrid work policies to ensure colleagues (especially younger ones) are getting enough in-person contact. Use our hybrid working survey questions to involve colleagues in the process.
• Create networks for younger team members to connect with one another via virtual groups/channels and in-person socials.

Support loneliness at work as part of your employee wellbeing programme

While the ideas above can help to tackle loneliness at work, it’s important to look at loneliness as part of wider employee wellbeing activities.

Use these resources to help support employee wellbeing:

10 ways to combat workplace stress

How can HR help with financial wellbeing?

Is slowing down the solution to better wellbeing at work?

Recognising and reducing stress at work: Advice for managers

Workplace wellbeing and the return to the office

THRIVE – a model for measuring employee wellbeing