This week is the culmination of spooky season in America, our yearly celebration of all things witchy and scary. We love it so much that the average person spends over $100 on costumes, decor, and festive (or haunted) outings each year. But ghosts and goblins aside, what are people actually afraid of?
A 2014 study found that 1 in 3 adults fear being alone. I doubt this comes as a surprise to those of us who are plugged into our digital world in any way. There is always something new and flashy to look at, and the algorithms just keep getting better at sucking us in (did someone say vampire?). But the more screens crave our attention, the more we crave human connection—that’s especially true for the workplace, where Americans spend most of their week.
The stats and surveys don’t lie either. You might want to brace yourself, it’s about to get spooky:
- More than half of American workers report feeling lonely at work.
- Workplace loneliness costs US employers an estimated $300 billion annually in lost productivity, turnover, and healthcare costs.
- 25% of Americans say they don’t have any friends at work.
- Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z all reported 60% or higher rates of loneliness.
- 62% of unpaid caregivers report feelings of loneliness, including working parents of young children.
- One in five global employees report experiencing loneliness “a lot.”
- Fully remote employees report significantly higher levels of loneliness (25%) than those who work exclusively on-site (16%).
- 1 in 10 Americans report that they feel lonely at work often.
Where do we go from here?
Perhaps the saddest part of all this is that while these numbers are shocking, it doesn’t feel all that surprising. We’ve all experienced loneliness at some point (probably multiple times) and can understand these feelings and where they come from.
Our goal in sharing these statistics is not to bring the mood down, but to remind us that we have work to do in our workplace communities. And each of us can make an effort to improve these stats in future years.
Ask yourself:
- Do I know any fun facts about my coworker in the next cubicle?
- When was the last time I ate lunch with a person (not a screen)?
- Did I laugh with someone at work today?
If the answer to any of these is NO or UNKOWN, see if you can change that this week!
We’re here to help
And for the team leaders who want to do their part on a larger scale, Generus is here to support you! Our mission is to build lasting connections through the power of community engagement. Learn more about what we can do for you.
