Why the Loneliness Epidemic Is Your Business Problem 

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Be honest; did you roll your eyes when you read the headline?  

When I started learning about it, I questioned it. My initial thought was, “How is this a business problem?”  The idea of it sure doesn’t seem like it, but it is. If you care about your business, it’s a problem. If you care about your people, it’s an even bigger problem.  

Loneliness is an organizational issue with direct financial and operational consequences. The U.S. Surgeon General has classified loneliness as a public health crisis, and its effects extend far beyond personal well-being. 

In the workplace, loneliness fuels stress-related absenteeism, burnout, disengagement, and turnover, costing U.S. employers an estimated $154 billion annually​. Despite the warnings and growing awareness, loneliness is getting worse.

Loneliness is everywhere, but we don’t admit it 

A 2024 Gallup study found that one in five employees worldwide feels lonely at work​. Despite the quick fix many want to offer, this isn’t just a case of working in the office around others vs. working from home. Loneliness stems from a lack of meaningful connection. You can be surrounded by people every day and still feel completely isolated. 

It’s easy to feel invisible at work when you only have tactical activity-based interactions and no effort is made to build relationships. This lack of interaction leads people to feel undervalued and completely disconnected. 

Why should employers care? 

Because disconnected employees rightfully disengage. If you’re lucky, they leave. If not, they stick around, and now you have underperforming people on your team. Lonely-at-work employees are a business risk.  

• Higher turnover → Employees who don’t feel connected are more likely to quit. 

• Lower productivity → Disengagement leads to lower performance and innovation. 

• Higher burnout and absenteeism → Loneliness increases stress and causes employees to miss work. 

Companies probably don’t realize that they are creating a lot of the problems.  

• A high-pressure environment without room for personal interactions leaves the team constantly stressed, making casual connections impossible.  

• While it may seem counterintuitive, being on a team can increase loneliness. If people come into a team environment expecting camaraderie and are disappointed, it can make them retreat and feel even more lonely.  

• Employers can be quick to dismiss loneliness as people being “socially needy,” but it’s more likely that it’s a toxic work environment that is breeding isolation.  

• When managers don’t make team connections a priority, it’s hard for anyone else to feel they can make time for it, either.  

Addressing loneliness with your team 

People want to feel like they matter. Employees in healthy workplaces describe their culture as "inclusive, welcoming, and caring." Those in unsupportive cultures talk about feelings of exclusion and indifference. 

Companies can fix workplace loneliness with awareness and a little intentional effort. 

Make connection a priority

At its core, loneliness at work is driven by cultural disconnection. Many anecdotal reports, as well as data from studies, show that regular lunches or happy hours and shared experiences outside work influence people’s happiness quotient.  

I can speak to this one. 🙋‍♀️ Outings during or after the workday have always been influential for me.  Fairly toxic environments became rather tolerable, and healthy environments were enhanced because of the outside enjoyment of my co-workers and getting to know my peers better.

Respect individual and team contributions

When leaders hand over responsibility, authority, and autonomy to their people or teams, it’s a sign of trust. When the individuals or teams deliver well and are appreciated for their efforts, everyone feels good.  Feeling respected and included is an amazing feeling. Who doesn’t want to bask in that?  

Our team member, Brandy, has some thoughts on this matter: “In past workplaces, I’ve always felt unsure and like I wasn’t trusted to do the job I was hired to do. Being shown that I could be trusted with tasks and managing whole projects made a lot of difference. It showed I was respected, boosted my confidence, and made me truly feel like part of the team.”  

Design slack into the workday

One of the easiest and most impactful ways to build trust and chip away at feelings of isolation is to build time into conversations and meetings to allow people to have some casual chit-chat. Even seemingly mundane items can prove to be important. Giving people an opportunity to connect over kids, pets, sports, or hobbies can form strong bonds. 

We start nearly every call with some personal conversation, whether internally or with our Goose community. Taking time to be interested in other people is fun, and it feels good to make the connection. 

Consider personality types

Belonging begets creativity and innovation. When people feel comfortable, they offer more of themselves to the company. This contribution can have an unintended consequence: people who contribute the most can overshadow others who might need more encouragement to feel part of the 'group.'  

Eliza on our team points out, “Sometimes making a truly welcoming atmosphere means asking your hyper-confident people to take extra care and help draw out their quieter counterparts. This may mean stepping back in meetings or reaching out for some one-on-one time. Engage these team members to act as a bridge to bring people forward.” 

Reach out and ask 

Lonely employees often hesitate to participate in social events, and the less they participate, the more resistant they become. A generic invite to a group of people hits differently than a one-to-one ask.  

When you ask someone to participate in a conversation, a lunch, or an off-site event, you’re telling them you think they matter and that their input is valuable or interesting.  

When you get the sense from others that they see you as interesting, it’s much easier to drop the barriers you’ve put up to protect yourself from getting your feelings hurt through rejection.   

Watching people blossom into acceptance is beautiful. 🌺 

So, yeah, your business needs people who feel connected 

Employees who feel valued perform better, stay longer, and contribute more. 

If companies want high-performing, engaged teams, they need to design workplaces where connection happens naturally and intentionally. Employees who feel like they belong bring their best selves to work, and people stay where they feel they belong.