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Loneliness at work is no longer a fringe wellbeing issue. It is becoming a structural challenge for employers, with clear implications around engagement, retention, and performance.
According to Gallup, some one in five employees globally report feeling lonely at work, while up to 58% say they experience loneliness at least some of the time. The impact is not evenly distributed. Younger workers aged 18-24 are twice as likely to feel lonely as older colleagues, and the issue extends into leadership, where 32% of senior managers report feeling often or always lonely.
It points to a workforce that is connected digitally but increasingly disconnected socially.
The stats around workplace loneliness
Remote and hybrid working models are a major factor. While 84% of on-site workers say they feel close to colleagues, that drops to 44% among remote workers, with a quarter of fully remote employees reporting high levels of loneliness. The shift in how people work has altered not just how often they interact, but the quality of those interactions.
For employers, it is engagement and retention that are most impacted by the issue. Only 20% of employees describe themselves as fully engaged, says Gallup. Those who are engaged are 64% less likely to feel lonely, highlighting the link between social connection and performance. At the same time, 40% of employees say loneliness significantly impacts their motivation, and nearly a quarter report that it has negatively affected their mental health.
Loneliness is also emerging as a retention risk. For some employees, disengagement driven by isolation becomes a trigger to leave, with quitting seen as the only way out of an environment where they feel disconnected or unseen.
The causes are complex and often interconnected. Workplace culture plays a central role, particularly where heavy workloads, unclear team structures, or weak management practices limit opportunities for interaction. Employees who feel undervalued or invisible are more likely to withdraw, reinforcing a cycle of isolation. Certain groups are disproportionately affected, including disabled workers and those with long-term health conditions, who report significantly higher levels of loneliness.
Taken together, the data suggests that loneliness is not simply about physical proximity. It is about the quality of relationships, the strength of team connections, and whether individuals feel seen, supported, and able to contribute.
Frank Giampietro, Chief Wellbeing Officer at EY (formerly Ernst and Young), sees it not as a fringe issue, but a central pillar of any wellbeing strategy, to have employees happy and connected to the work and colleagues.
“When we talk about wellbeing, we frame everything around three key principles,” Giampietro says. “The first is that wellbeing is a personal journey. What good looks like for me is different than what it looks like for you. It is a very personalized experience, and we recognize that. The second is that while it is a personal journey, wellbeing is also a team sport. It is one thing to try to tackle this individually, but it has a multiplier effect if everyone is thinking about wellbeing and working on it together. The last piece is that this only works in organizations if you view wellbeing as a business imperative."
At the heart of that is a growing focus on connection, particularly as loneliness and isolation continue to surface as workplace issues.
“When you think about loneliness, a lot of our focus starts with education,” he says. “We help people understand the negative impacts of loneliness and the flip side, which is the power of connection. You cannot live your best life if you are not connected to the people around you and building healthy, powerful relationships. We try to weave that into how we show up every day, because connection is fundamental to wellbeing.”
Workplace isolation and burnout
The link between connection and performance shows up in how people feel, how they behave, and how they work together under pressure.
“One of the key drivers of burnout is poor relationships,” Giampietro says. “The single biggest determinant of longevity and reduced risk of premature death is the quality of our relationships. It reduces cortisol levels, which are driven by stress and anxiety. We are all dealing with those pressures, both from work and the world around us, and the best way to reduce that is to be around people we feel safe with and have meaningful connections with. That is not just emotional, it is a physical reaction."
That emphasis on relationships runs through how EY approaches team dynamics. Rather than leaving connection to chance, the firm has built structures to make it intentional.
“We try to make sure teams are having conversations about how they work together and setting norms,” he explains. “The biggest focus for us is connection. We want teams to be deliberate about building relationships, getting to know each other, and continuing to invest in those relationships over time. That is not something that just happens at the start. It has to be maintained.”
One of the more practical tools designed to support that is what EY calls the “Manual of Me.”
“We created a tool called the Manual of Me, which is a simple way for people to share how they work and what matters to them,” Giampietro says. “Some of it is practical, like when they do their best work, but it also includes personal elements like interests, motivations, and even pet peeves. The idea is to put those things on the table early so they do not get in the way of building strong, productive relationships.”
Yet even with structured tools, the reality of human behavior means not everyone will engage in the same way.
“You have to meet people where they are,” he says. “Some people are more introverted or simply prefer to keep things private, and that is okay. The goal is not to force people to share, but to create an environment where they can show up how they want to show up. Over time, as people feel more comfortable, they may choose to share more, but it has to happen at their pace.”
The importance of authenticity
Creating that environment often comes down to simple trust.
“Psychological safety starts with vulnerability,” Giampietro says. “When someone is willing to be open and authentic, it creates permission for others to do the same. That is when you move away from people putting on a work persona and start having real conversations. It often starts with leaders being willing to go first and model that behavior.”
When that happens, relationships evolve in ways that go beyond transactional working relationships.
“The goal is to get to a place where people feel safe,” he says. “Once they feel safe, relationships evolve. People move from being coworkers to colleagues to friends. Not everyone needs or wants that, and we respect that, but many people do. We spend a significant amount of time with the people we work with, and it makes a difference when those relationships are strong."
That approach also shapes how EY thinks about hiring and team composition, which places the emphasis is on diversity of thought and experience, rather than seeking a narrow cultural fit.
“We do not look for a specific personality type when hiring,” Giampietro says. “We value diversity, including neurodiversity, and recognize that people think and process information differently. That can sometimes create misunderstandings, but it is also where innovation happens. The focus is on creating awareness so people understand those differences rather than reacting negatively to them.
“We look for people who are intellectually curious and open-minded, who want to learn and grow,” he says. “Those qualities tend to translate into people who are willing to build better relationships. Especially now, when loneliness and isolation are more prevalent, people are coming into the workforce wanting more meaningful connections and being open to learning how to build them.”
That demand for connection is not static. In a business environment, where teams form and reform constantly, it requires ongoing effort.
“There is a constant need to invest in team relationships because people move between teams frequently,” Giampietro says. “That makes it essential to continuously build team norms and maintain the quality of relationships. It is not a one-time exercise, it is ongoing.”
Alongside this, EY has introduced programs designed to normalize everyday interactions that might otherwise feel difficult.
“We have a program called Everyday Caring, which is about encouraging people to check in on each other and also giving them the confidence to do it,” he says. “A lot of people want to ask how someone is doing but are unsure how to handle the answer, especially if the response is not positive. We try to normalize those conversations and help people feel equipped to support each other.”
That becomes particularly important during periods of stress, when instinct can pull people in the opposite direction.
“When people are stressed or anxious, their instinct, especially if they are more introverted, can be to withdraw,” Giampietro says. “That is often the opposite of what they need. In those moments, it is important to lean into relationships, even if that means connecting with just one or two people. The quality of those relationships is what matters.”
The use of data in spotting isolation
While much of this work is grounded in behavior and culture, it is increasingly supported by data.
“We use data at an aggregated level to understand wellbeing across teams,” he explains. “One of the key indicators we look at is psychological safety, including whether people feel they can show up as their authentic selves. That is a strong signal of whether teams are building meaningful connections or whether people are starting to feel isolated."
Those insights are not just used for monitoring, but are tied directly to business outcomes.
“We have been able to show that the quality of relationships has a direct impact on business outcomes,” Giampietro says. “It affects retention, particularly of high performers, and it also affects revenue growth. Teams that are more connected tend to build stronger relationships with clients and grow those relationships more effectively.
Turning workforce data into early warnings for high-cost employees
“You can often see when someone is starting to disconnect,” he says. “If you are paying attention and checking in regularly, you will notice changes in behavior. It is important to trust your judgment and act on it. Building strong team norms and making relationships a core part of how the team operates is critical, not something extra.”
The challenge does not disappear at senior levels. In some cases, it becomes even more pronounced, in fact.
“As people become more senior, they can sometimes pull back from relationships, but that is when they need them most,” he says. “The more pressure and stress they face, the more important it is to invest in those connections, both inside and outside of work.”
It can require a shift in mindset, particularly for leaders who feel time is their most constrained resource.
“Some leaders feel that taking time for themselves is selfish,” Giampietro says. “But it actually makes them better leaders. Investing in relationships and personal wellbeing improves how they show up for their teams and ultimately leads to better outcomes.”
In that sense, workplace loneliness is not a separate agenda but part of a wellbeing remit. It is embedded in how people connect, how teams operate, and how organizations perform.
Five ways to spot and solve workplace isolation
1. Trust your judgment and watch for withdrawal: Trust your judgment. If you're paying attention and doing regular check-ins with your team, you know the people who are pulling back and aren't as connected. You can observe that whether you're in a remote environment or in person.
2. Make relationship-building a core team norm: It starts with building the team norms. It starts with actually being deliberate about how we are going to build relationships. Don’t look at it as an extra. Look at it as a core consequence to how you actually show up.
3. Create space for connection through shared moments: Celebrating and having fun is huge. Start with those get-to-know-you conversations, but then as you move through, celebrate the team milestones. Find opportunities for people to have fun, whether that is remote or in person. It is an opportunity where people open up a little bit more than we see otherwise.
4. Make connection a shared responsibility: Think about the mechanisms you are putting in place as a manager, but also how you are asking the team to check in on each other. A manager is only going to see one side. When you make it a collective effort, someone else on the team may notice the person who is struggling and not feeling connected, and then they can raise that.
5. Know when to step back and bring in support: Know when you need help as a manager. When you see someone who is more disconnected and retreating, we don’t ask our people to be mental health experts. Seek the support of others and ask that person to seek support when they really need it.
