Loneliness impacting workers' productivity, health, Cigna study finds

If you’re a manager or an employer, listen up! There’s a new productivity killer on the run. According to a study by Cigna, loneliness is responsible for huge declines in productivity among employees and has been aggravated further since the pandemic.

The study discovered that loneliness cost employers more than $154 billion per year in lost productivity due to absenteeism. Aside from productivity, employees experiencing loneliness were more than three times as likely to be dissatisfied with their jobs as their peers.

According to the study, here are 3 ways you can address workplace loneliness today:

1. Hold activities that bring employees together, both in-person and virtually.

2. Provide employee benefits that support mental and emotional well-being.

3. Launch identified diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives as a means of creating safe, welcoming environments for employees.

Last but not the least, support your team members, not just for the numbers, but because it’s the right thing to do.