Workplace Loneliness Statistics

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The sad truth is that most people feel lonely, regardless of where they are working from.

Even working on site (in the office), 43% of people feel always or often lonely, with only 13% of people saying they never feel lonely.

And this has had a negative impact for them both personally…

The majority of people (76%) said workplace loneliness has negatively impacted their mental health.

With 40% saying it impacted them severely, 24% moderately, and 23% mildly. Only 13% said that workplace loneliness has had no impact on their mental health at all.

…and professionally.

The biggest impact of loneliness in the workplace has been a reduction in engagement (57%) followed by a sense of burnout (45%).

Workplace loneliness has also made people want to quit their job (43%), reduced their overall sense of job satisfaction (28%), and had a negative impact on their job performance (26%).

24% also agreed that they feel disconnected from their team.

An overwhelming number of people (73%) agree that workplace loneliness has affected their career growth and professional development.

But if you have measures in place to help your team then they won’t feel like this, right? Wrong!

Surprisingly, based on the loneliness figures, most people (78%) are actually happy with the support their employer provides for them to stay connected and engaged with co-workers.

84% have a true friend at work who they can rely on for emotional support.

And even those who newly joined companies as a remote worker feel as though they are well connected with their team. 66% cited their onboarding experience as excellent or good, with 16% saying it was neutral, and only 4% saying it was poor or very poor.

And yet, people are MORE lonely than they were 5 years ago…

60% of people are more lonely, 20% say it’s the same, with only 20% saying they feel less lonely now.

…so, what gives?!

Perhaps it’s about the way we communicate with co-workers…

80% use email, 58% attend virtual meetings, 45% use an asynchronous communications tool, 21% use a project management tool, and 7% simply don’t talk to their co-workers throughout the day.

Or maybe it’s simply about preferences…

When we asked respondents how they’d prefer employers to tackle remote work loneliness, we got a mixed bag of results. 58% would like more in-person social events, 57% want to move to a hybrid work model, 46% want to have more meetings (who knew?!), 41% want more virtual check-ins with co-workers, and 23% would prefer a buddy system.

Our analysis…

So, people feel lonely at work regardless of whether they’re at home alone or in the office with co-workers. Plus, they are largely happy with the support provided by employers to help them stay in touch with each other. So, why does loneliness still persist?

Well, perhaps it all comes down to that often quoted phrase about loneliness, that you can “feel lonely in a crowded room.”

The right tools are in place, but we are not having the right conversations. This is dangerous because it can allow loneliness to go hidden and only be revealed when deeper problems occur, like burnout, disengagement, and plummeting job performance.

One of the best ways to protect both your team and your business from the effects of loneliness is to gather regular feedback. Feedback on everything from how they’re feeling, to what would improve their working environment, to what they’re aspiring towards.

aaask can help you collect feedback from your team on autopilot. You simply create a new check-in for everything you want to ask, invite the correct people, and set up a schedule to prompt them to answer.

Everyone can comment and react, and all feedback is sent to whoever requires it as one simple summary.

Check it out for yourself >>