Originally found at SELF.
It makes sense that many of us expect to make friends at work. When you consider how much time most people spend on the job and the fact there are generally overlapping interests among coworkers, it’s easy to assume that friendships—or at least friendly, casual connections—will come easily. But it’s not always that simple. According to new research from the University of Pittsburgh, three out of five American workers feel lonely or disconnected from their colleagues.
The pandemic certainly contributed to this, the researchers say. It dramatically changed the way we work; many people now do their jobs from home full-time or in a hybrid situation that balances office and remote hours. Many companies have also become more comfortable hiring people in different cities and time zones. Even for people who have returned to in-person work—or never left it—it might still feel as though something has fundamentally shifted when it comes to coworker interactions, thanks, in part, to years of social distancing. And if you’re already dealing with isolation and loneliness, working in an environment where you just don’t click with your coworkers only exacerbates those difficult feelings.
...Research published in 2018 in the Academy of Management Journal found that greater workplace loneliness was related to lower job performance, and that lonely employees felt less committed to their jobs.
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