The unspoken reason people sometimes quit their jobs: Loneliness

Helping employees feel a sense of belonging should be regarded as a core business strategy.

- Uma Thana Balasingam

My millennial colleague once told me that one of her favourite moments at work was our Friday team lunches.

One week, she was rushing to finish an urgent e-mail and told us to go ahead without her. But we waited—all eight of us, by the lift. Later, she said that our small act of waiting meant the world to her.

That moment was a lesson in how simple things can build a sense of belonging in the workplace. Policies are important, but those moments when people choose each other count for something significant. Such small, consistent signals say: "You matter here."

In today's workplace, that's an impact companies can no longer afford to ignore.

THE HIDDEN COST OF DISCONNECTION

According to Randstad Singapore's 2025 Workmonitor survey, 62 per cent of respondents said they would leave their jobs if they didn't feel a sense of belonging. Among Gen Z workers, that number jumped to 67 per cent.

Just think: Two-thirds of early-career professionals in Singapore would rather quit than stay in a workplace where they don't feel like they matter.

It gets more sobering: 21 per cent of all respondents had already left a job because they had no friends at work. That number climbed to 25 per cent for both Gen Z and millennials. This isn't just a soft issue; it's a business one.

Some might argue that the point of a business is to make a profit, not to nurture feelings. But ignoring the emotional health of employees comes at a cost. Lonely workers are less engaged, more likely to burn out and more prone to leaving.

In Singapore, a 2024 study by the National Healthcare Group, now NHG Health, found that workers experiencing both social isolation and depressive symptoms incurred nearly double the productivity loss compared with their peers, driven by both absenteeism and presenteeism.