A growing number of employees in the US and UK have said they want closer relationships with their colleagues, with scheduled meetings growing in frequency as a result.

New research commissioned by game-based learning platform Kahoot! found that 56% of US workers and 43% of UK workers wish they had stronger connections with their colleagues. At the same time, loneliness remains a significant issue in the workplace, with 39% of US and 40% of UK respondents reporting they feel lonely at work.

The findings suggest that although modern workplaces offer more ways than ever to communicate, meaningful connections between colleagues can still be difficult to build. Nearly one-third (30%) of US workers and 17% of UK workers said they often go an entire workday without speaking to a colleague.

Meetings have increasingly become the primary source of workplace interaction. Half of US workers (50%) and nearly half of UK workers (47%) said meetings were their only interaction with certain coworkers.

According to the report, informal conversations that once took place in hallways, before meetings or during lunch breaks were increasingly being replaced by scheduled exchanges.

Personal interaction

Despite this shift, employees continue to value personal interaction. More than half (57%) of UK respondents said meetings were more effective when colleagues spend time connecting before focusing on business matters. The figures was higher in the US where 66% of respondents felt this.

“Workplaces have spent years optimising for productivity, flexibility, and efficiency, but many have unintentionally engineered out the everyday human connection people need to feel engaged and supported,” said Sean D’Arcy, chief solutions officer at Kahoot!

D’Arcy said the challenge for employers was to foster connection without creating artificial social expectations.

The survey also revealed a tension between workers’ desire for stronger relationships and their need for boundaries. While many respondents wanted closer workplace connections, 60% of US workers and 55% of UK workers said they intentionally maintained personal distance from colleagues to preserve work-life balance.

However, employees have not abandoned workplace social activities altogether. More than three-quarters of US workers (76%) and 63% of UK workers said they would attend their company’s main office celebration or holiday party, while 37% of US respondents and 38% of UK respondents said they genuinely looked forward to such events.

Isolation

Sam Greenhalgh, partner on the employment team at Birketts law firm, said the theme of workplace connections has been a live topic ever since the pandemic. He said that if workplace practices (for example, heavy reliance on digital communication despite co-location) contributed to stress or isolation, employers should assess and mitigate these risks through suitable and sufficient risk assessments under the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999. He said there may also be equality implications where isolation disproportionately affects protected groups (for example, disabled employees), engaging duties under the Equality Act 2010, including reasonable adjustments.

Greenhalgh added: “From a culture and engagement perspective, the data suggests a disconnect between physical presence and meaningful interaction that can undermine a sense of belonging and team cohesion. To counter this, organisations need to be deliberate about creating opportunities for human connection – through leadership behaviours, team routines, and workspace design – rather than assuming proximity alone will drive culture.”

“Ultimately, the future of work is likely to prioritise quality of interaction over quantity of presence, with culture shaped as much by behaviours and norms as by where people sit.”

 

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