A new study estimates that loneliness costs U.S. businesses more than $154 billion annually in lost productivity. At a time when mental health and work/life balance have become higher priorities in the aftermath of the COVID 19 pandemic, the new research sheds more light on loneliness as a cause of absenteeism, and the productivity costs that come with it.
The research was published as part of Cigna’s Loneliness Index. Researchers used a survey of more than 6,000 workers in 2019 to measure workers’ feelings of loneliness and social isolation.
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“Loneliness promotes job withdrawal among working adults in the U.S.,” the report said. “Findings suggest that proactively developing job and personal resources may reduce loneliness and benefit employee psychosocial well-being, engagement, and retention.”
An impact on productivity and job retention
Cigna officials noted that the survey was taken before the pandemic, so the increased isolation, along with feelings of stress, anxiety and depression, have likely become worse since the survey was conducted.
Findings include data on both absenteeism and job satisfaction. The study found that workers who described themselves as lonely missed work an average of seven days per year; those who did not describe themselves as lonely missed 1.3 days of work per year.
Lonely workers were also much more likely to consider leaving their job: 56.6% of lonely workers said there was a greater likelihood of them quitting their job in the coming year, compared to 29.3% of workers described as not lonely.
Ways to address the problem of worker loneliness
The report includes a number of strategies to address the problem of loneliness. “Social companionship, good work-life balance, and satisfaction with communication at work, as well as strong personal resilience and sense of connectivity and inclusion, can help mitigate loneliness by promoting employee engagement and psychosocial health,” Cigna said in an analysis of the study.
The researchers noted that technology can help with connectivity, but warned against over-reliance on such tools. “Some employees may experience modern workplace communication technology as being more intrusive or disruptive to their job performance, rather than as a means for relational exchange and developing social connections,” the report said. “Depending on a worker’s perspective, technology might not always promote enhanced connection with others in the workplace”
Other suggestions included the formation of employee resource groups, check-ins, and team-building activities. The study noted that employers are increasingly using short-form pulse surveys to detect changes in worker well-being. “Timely insights from internal survey data can be utilized to advance current human resource interventions targeting loneliness and social inclusion and augment decision-making processes, training operations, and employee engagement efforts,” the report said.
The report also discussed the importance of having an inclusive workplace and giving workers flexibility in their jobs. “Employers can play a pivotal role in fostering a healthy work-life balance among employees, along with social companionship and good communication at work, in order to prevent workforce loneliness,” said Stuart Lustig, M.D., co-author of the study and national medical executive for behavioral health at Evernorth. “For example, managers at every level of an organization can initiate discussions with each of their team members about what a healthy work-life balance would feel like for them personally.”
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