Feeling lonely at work? How often you see your colleagues may matter

A large German workforce study reveals striking differences among feeling alone, feeling excluded, and actually feeling lonely, and points to the workplace conditions most closely associated with each experience.

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More than one in four employees in Germany report lacking companionship from colleagues at work, while less frequent contact with colleagues is associated with all three facets of workplace loneliness, according to a new study published in Scientific Reports.

Background

Loneliness at work refers to a perceived discrepancy between desired and actual social relationships and interactions. Such a perceived deficit can potentially trigger negative emotions in employees.

Loneliness is recognized as a major public health concern, while work-related loneliness has attracted growing attention because of its links with employee mental health. Since adults spend a significant amount of time at work, the workplace may provide an important setting for supporting social relationships among employees.

The prevalence and mental health impact of loneliness at work have not been studied as extensively as general loneliness.

The current study, led by researchers from the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in Germany, aimed to determine the prevalence of three facets of loneliness at work, perceived aloneness, perceived exclusion, and feeling of loneliness, among employees in Germany.

Perceived aloneness was assessed by asking employees how often they feel that they lack companionship of colleagues at work. Perceived exclusion was assessed by asking employees how often they felt left out at work. The feeling of loneliness at work, by comparison, was directly assessed by asking employees how often they feel lonely at work.

Using data collected in 2023/24 from 7,798 employees aged 25 to 65 in a nationally representative sample of workers subject to social security contributions in Germany, the researchers also explored the association of potential sociodemographic and job-related factors with loneliness at work, including age, gender, disability, occupational skill level, leadership position, employment status, and frequency of social interactions at work.

Key findings

Regarding the prevalence of loneliness at work, the study reported that about 26% of employees felt alone at work (defined as lacking companionship from colleagues), 17% felt excluded, and 8% felt lonely at work, with each experience reported at least sometimes.

The feeling of exclusion was more common among female employees, while younger employees reported feeling lonely at work more frequently.

Employees in leadership positions generally reported less workplace loneliness, but after accounting for other characteristics, only the association with lower exclusion remained statistically significant. This trend of lower loneliness prevalence among leaders was more pronounced among men for exclusion and feeling lonely at work, but formal gender-by-leadership interaction tests were not significant.

Feelings of exclusion and loneliness at work were more frequent among employees with fixed-term contracts than among those with open-ended contracts. Full-time employees also reported feeling lonely at work more often than part-time employees after adjustment.

A higher proportion of working from home was associated with more frequent aloneness, but it was not associated with feeling lonely at work after adjustment. Employees who worked from home more than half the time had lower adjusted odds of exclusion.

The analysis, controlling for sociodemographic and job-related characteristics, revealed that less frequent direct contact with colleagues was consistently associated with feeling alone, excluded, and lonely at work. Contact with customers, patients, passengers, or pupils was not associated with any of the three facets.

Study significance

The study finds that several facets of work-related loneliness are common among German employees and that less frequent direct contact with colleagues is consistently associated with these experiences.

About 26% and 17% of employees reported feeling alone and excluded, respectively, at least sometimes. When asked directly whether they felt lonely at work, only 8% reported doing so at least sometimes.

Age patterns indicate that the feelings of aloneness and exclusion are similar across age groups. Younger employees reported feeling lonely at work more frequently. The authors interpret this pattern as suggesting that age groups may experience similar discrepancies between desired and actual relationships at work, but younger employees may have a more negative emotional reaction to them.

As one possible explanation, the authors suggest that younger individuals are more likely to express their workplace-related or general negative feelings than their older counterparts because awareness of mental health problems has increased in recent years. This explanation was not tested in the study.

Gender comparisons indicate that female employees experience exclusion more frequently than male employees. The authors suggest that greater involvement in care work may leave women with less time for informal after-work meetings, which could limit access to central positions in workplace social networks and contribute to feelings of exclusion. This mechanism was not directly tested.

Employees in leadership positions generally reported less work-related loneliness in unadjusted comparisons. One possible explanation is that leaders may be involved in multiple teams and occupy more central positions in work-related social networks, though the adjusted evidence was strongest for lower exclusion.

The study consistently links all three facets of workplace loneliness with less frequent direct contact with colleagues. The authors recommend that employers and supervisors allow sufficient time and space for collegial contact, including face-to-face, telephone, and video interactions, for both on-site and remote workers.

Overall, the study provides valuable insight into how work-related loneliness varies across employee groups and working conditions. It identifies collegial contact as a potentially modifiable workplace factor associated with all three facets, while the study did not test whether increasing contact improves mental health.

Because of the cross-sectional design, the study could not determine causality for the observed associations or the consequences of workplace-related loneliness for employee health and functioning. There remains a possibility of reverse causation, meaning that employees with higher baseline loneliness may be less likely to interact with colleagues.

Future research with a longitudinal study design is needed to further clarify predictors and outcomes of work-related loneliness. The sample included employees subject to social security contributions and excluded civil servants, self-employed people, freelancers, and workers under 25, so the prevalence estimates should not be generalized to the entire German workforce. The three items used to assess workplace loneliness had not been validated for this purpose, and the researchers analyzed the facets separately.

The authors also noted some conceptual overlap between the measure of colleague contact and the aloneness question, although colleague contact was also associated with exclusion and direct loneliness.

Journal reference:

• Schöllgen, I., Buchallik, F., Lohmann-Haislah, A., & Schade, H. M. (2026). Loneliness at work: A cross-sectional study on prevalence and correlates in a representative sample of employees in Germany. Scientific Reports, 16(1), 29303. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-70101-8, https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-70101-8