Young adults, who make up the majority of the future U

Poor physical and mental health, also reinforced during the pandemic, remain key indicators as well

• Loneliness can be a barrier to employee productivity. Less than half of lonely employees say they are able to work efficiently (47%) and perform to the best of their abilities (48%), compared to about two-thirds of non-lonely employees who are able to perform efficiently (64%) and at their peak performance (65%). In addition, more than 42% of lonely employees said they were “mentally somewhere else” while at work in the past three months – more than double that of non-lonely workers (18%).
• Employees experiencing loneliness are more likely to be dissatisfied with their job. Lonely employees are more than three times as likely to be dissatisfied with their job (21%) as employees who are not lonely (7%).
• The poor health associated with loneliness can interfere with workplace performance. Three in 10 employees who are lonely report not feeling well or feeling sick while at work in the past three months, compared to just 14% of non-lonely employees. More lonely employees reported that their physical or mental and emotional health interfered with their normal work-related activities or performance at least moderately in the past four weeks compared to non-lonely workers. Nearly one in five lonely employees (19%) reported that their mental or emotional health “extremely” interfered with work in the last month alone.

Confronting the Loneliness Epidemic

While the loneliness epidemic continues, the fact that loneliness levels mostly remained static despite the pandemic can be viewed as a bright spot – but, not one that doesn’t require action. S. workforce, are still much more likely to be lonely than older adults.