We Have the Opportunity to Be More Connected Than Ever. So Why Does Everyone Feel So Alone?
June 2026 | Episode 015
What the loneliness epidemic means for you and the people you lead.
We talk a lot about tapping into how we are feeling and showing up with the right energy (which we covered last month). But there's something happening in workplaces right now that's costing us more than we realize.
People are lonely and feeling isolated, and chances are, some of the people on your team are too.
More than half of us in North America (approximately 57%) report feeling lonely, with younger generations leading those numbers. It's not just a personal struggle people are leaving at the door when they arrive at work. Nearly 40% of U.S. workers report feeling lonely while at work and the ripple effects on teams and performance are already being felt.
I want to talk about what this means for you as a leader, and what emotional intelligence has to do with it.
We Were Made for This
Social belonging is hardwired into us. From the time we're children forming bonds with our caregivers, we are wired to seek connection and support from others. That need doesn't disappear when we step into a professional role.
And yet, somewhere along the way, the workplace decided that connection was secondary. A perk, not a priority. I want to show you how the data tells a different story.
Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report found that one in five employees worldwide felt lonely on any given day. Meanwhile, the productivity cost is staggering. Disengagement driven by disconnection costs the global economy an estimated $10 trillion annually.
Here's the part that stopped me in my tracks: U.S. businesses spend nearly $8 billion each year on diversity and inclusion training that often misses the mark, because it neglects our most fundamental need: to feel genuinely included.
It Doesn't Look Like What You Think
Loneliness at work is rarely obvious. It doesn't always look like someone sitting alone at lunch or working in silence. More often, it shows up as disengagement, like someone who stops volunteering ideas or a team member who seems "fine" but isn't fully present.
Research shows that workplace loneliness is associated with lower job performance, reduced job satisfaction, worse manager relationships, and elevated burnout.
Among younger workers, the numbers are striking: about 49% of Millennials and 40% of Gen Z employees report experiencing workplace loneliness. These are the people filling your teams and your pipelines right now.
And the health stakes are not small either. The former U.S. Surgeon General has noted that the physical effects of social isolation are comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Connection, or the lack of it, is a major threat to our physical health too.
This Is Where EQ Can Help Us
Self-awareness, one of the most foundational EQ skills, lets you notice when you've become transactional with your team, when you're moving fast and forgetting to actually see the people around you.
Empathy lets you recognize what might be going on beneath the surface for someone who's gone quiet.
And social skills, another core pillar of EQ, are precisely what turns a workplace into a place where people feel they genuinely belong and want to be everyday.
Gallup found that engaged employees, those who feel connected to their team and find meaning in their work, are 64% less likely to experience loneliness than those who are not engaged.
Connection and engagement feed one another! The leader's role in all of this is establishing the conditions for both.
So What Can You Actually Do About It?
Notice who's going quiet. Loneliness often hides in plain sight. Make it a practice to check in individually, not just about the work, but about how someone is actually doing and feeling. A two-minute conversation can shift someone's entire week.
Be the first to be real. Psychological safety starts with you. When you model authenticity and vulnerability (i.e. sharing what's hard, what you're learning, what you're uncertain about) you give your team permission to do the same.
Create space for people to be whole humans. Team-building doesn't have to be elaborate. It just has to feel genuine. Coffee chats, shared meals, mentorship pairings, cross-functional projects, team building days out of the office, etc. These moments of exposure and exchange compound into something much larger over time.
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Before You Leave This Page
The loneliness epidemic is real. The data says so. But so is your ability, as a leader, to do something about it by investing in one conversation or one moment of genuine presence at a time.
In fact, workers who feel genuinely connected are significantly more willing to go above and beyond for their organization, and they bring more of themselves when they do.
You have far more influence here than you might think.
With optimism,
Jillian & Team
McLaughlin Mentoring Inc.