Our Human Need for Connection

In the past couple of weeks, I've been having conversations with friends and family about their work structure and set-ups. Many are working in a hybrid model, expected in the office a couple of days a week, others are fully remote, and a select few have a mandate to return to the office five days a week. It should be to no one's surprise that the five-days-a-week friend has recently given notice and is on their way to a new role.

The DNA of work changed during the pandemic, and there is no going back to sitting in a cubicle for long hours five days a week. And although some executives have declared that face-to-face work is crucial to productivity, the workforce has spoken, and flexible work environments are clearly the way forward. Physical location will continue to become less relevant as technology advances. 

However, I'm noticing as I speak with people that although they want flexible work environments and value the work-life balance it allows, they are craving human connection. Remote work is often lonely and isolating. A recent study from WorkLife shows the effects of this:

43% of respondents say they don't feel a connection to their coworkers

38% said they don't trust their coworkers

22% said they don't have a single friend at work

The future of work is flexible, but we're simultaneously confronting a loneliness epidemic. We need to acknowledge how crucial it is for businesses to create a strategy and invest in building a more connected workforce that prioritizes and creates opportunities for human connection, whether virtually or in person.