Globally Grounded: Episode 35
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In this episode, Kyra tackles workplace loneliness, a topic that resonates with her personally, having experienced this on more than one occasion. One in five employees globally feels lonely at work, loneliness costs US employers roughly $154 billion annually, and the health risks are apparently the same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Kyra takes the conversation global, exploring why the UK and Japan created government ministers for the problem, and what Denmark, France, and the Netherlands do differently. She closes with a view into what workplace loneliness actually looks like day to day, and offers some prompts for anyone sitting with that disconnection or anyone who’s been close enough to recognize it in someone else.
Episode Takeaways
Workplace loneliness is a global health crisis, and governments are doing something about it. The UK appointed a Minister for Loneliness in 2018, and Japan followed in 2021, passing a national law in 2023. The WHO set up a Commission on Social Connection. And the US Surgeon General issued a formal advisory, explaining how harmful loneliness at work is to our health.
One in five employees globally feels lonely at work. Of course there are plenty of people who feel disconnected, invisible, or unknown at work who wouldn't call it loneliness per se. But it manifests in many forms, and all those forms are valid.
Being in the office doesn't automatically fix the problem. Should I (we) yell this from the rooftops? You can be in the office five days a week, fully in person, but also eating lunch at your desk, on non-stop Zoom calls, and going home having had no real conversations. Location is important, but so are culture, personality, workplace design, and whether anyone actually knows who you are beyond your name, title, and team.
Loneliness seems to live in that space between being connected and being known. We're more reachable than ever, yet so many workers still feel unseen. There's a difference between being contactable and being seen, heard, and known as a human. Research shows that even one close friendship at work is one of the strongest predictors of emplpyee engagement and wellbeing.
Not surprisingly, this is partly a workplace design issue. Loneliness at work happens when organizations optimize for output over connection, when cultures reward performance over authenticity, and when the infrastructure of belonging continually gets stripped away.
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