USA 
United Kingdom
Nearly three quarters of workers (73%) believe their employers should take action to mitigate against the loneliness they experience while flexible working, new research has revealed.
In a survey conducted by Survation, Silicon Reef reached out to over 1,009 people in the UK in February and found that employees see it as the responsibility of their leaders to take action to support them with the challenges of remote/flexible working, including mental health challenges. 44% of those surveyed said this support should come in the form of opportunities for mental health breaks and support, while 41% thought more social media interaction with employees would be helpful. 19% think that big applications like the metaverse could help them.
Although flexible working offers tangible benefits in terms of time and cost-savings for employees, one of the much-documented drawbacks is that it can be lonely. Work is the place where people traditionally do most of their social interacting – as much as 70%, according to some sources – and it’s simply not possible to replicate an office environment at home, no matter how good today’s technology may be.
A survey by Nespresso found that nearly 20% of all employees said that flexible working contributed to feelings of loneliness – and loneliness is linked to relationship damage, depression, sedentary behaviour and even substance abuse problems.
And loneliness isn’t the only problem connected to remote working. The Silicon Reef research found that almost half of all workers felt a lack of motivation or disconnection from colleagues, with just a quarter (25%) saying they’d experienced none of these drawbacks while working from home. Over 40% of those surveyed said they’d taken to working in a location other than the office or home (a café or garden, for example) at least once a month. 11% of those who occasionally work in a third space said they worked in their car!
The workers surveyed were clear that, as well as better input from their bosses, they need technology to step up and make home working a more positive experience. 50% believed that remote/flexible working was introduced too quickly and some technological aspects are lagging behind.
Commenting on the findings, Silicon Reef’s CEO, Alex Graves, said: “Our research clearly shows that loneliness has become a huge workplace issue in the wake of hybrid and flexible working. And people want action. Leaders should take note, because if left to get worse, we’ll have an unhappy workforce and that’s no good for anyone – workers, leaders, customers and wider society.
“By getting the right technology in place, along with other important steps, we can combat the loneliness epidemic and help people to work happy. Software won’t solve everything on its own, but it’s a vital piece of the puzzle – and a good place for employers to start. It offers practical and very tangible help.”
