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[00:00.93] Working from home has its benefits, but it also has its problems.

[00:08.37] One of them involves workplace friendships.

[00:13.42] Working remotely, or away from an office, may make it harder to form friendships with coworkers.

[00:22.97] In the United States, only two in every 10 employees say they have a “best friend” at work.

[00:33.34] That information comes from a Gallup opinion study done in June 2022.

[00:41.31] Jim Harter is a workplace and well-being researcher for Gallup.

[00:47.94] He said, “We (are) seeing in the data that younger people in general are feeling more disconnected from their workplaces.”

[00:59.90] Harter added that if young people are “less connected to their workplace,” they have fewer chances to connect with their co-workers.

[01:11.05] It may be difficult to “develop those kinds of friendships that they might have had in the past.”

[01:19.29] Also, he said there is a difference in levels of trust among work friends.

[01:27.25] “It (is) a lot more difficult to establish close kinds of relationships when you (are) more distant,” he said.

[01:36.29] Take for example, Crystal Powers.

[01:40.54] She is a medical records manager in the state of Wisconsin.

[01:46.65] Powers began a new remote job in February 2022.

[01:53.55] Powers is the only manager hired since the pandemic who oversees full-time remote workers.

[02:03.11] Team building has been difficult, she said.

[02:07.10] She has not yet met in person two of the five people she oversees.

[02:14.54] She said, “It (has) been more challenging than it has been in past positions to … earn the trust in me as a supervisor, because they still do (not) really know me.”

[02:29.41] She also has found it hard to connect with other managers online.

[02:35.26] Still, Powers said, she likes working remotely.

[02:41.10] Harter, from Gallup, said that having a best friend at work has become even more important since the rise in remote and hybrid employment.

[02:54.38] For many employees during the pandemic, workplace friendships offered social and emotional support at a critical time, Gallup found from their recent study.

[03:08.72] This is especially true of parents, educators and frontline workers.

[03:17.22] These workplace friendships also benefited employers.

[03:22.80] Gallup research shows that employees who have a close friend at work are much more likely to:

[03:31.03] interact with customers and work partners,

[03:35.55] get more done in less time,

[03:39.00] support a safe workplace with fewer accidents,

[03:44.58] and create and share ideas.

[03:49.09] Johnny C. Taylor Jr. is president and chief of the Society for Human Resource Management.

[03:58.39] He said many good things come from work friendships.

[04:04.50] First on his list is worker retention – a company’s ability to keep good workers.

[04:13.27] Next on his list is peace in the workplace.

[04:18.32] He said work friends can help to keep each other calm when disagreements happen.

[04:26.29] More companies, he said, are actively supporting workplace friendships.

[04:33.45] His organization has nearly 500 employees around the world.

[04:40.09] One of its programs centers around something that often brings people together -- food.

[04:48.33] The organization buys lunch for people who invite a new person to share a meal with them.

[04:56.83] Taylor said, “… we’re trying to get people together who have different...lived experiences, backgrounds, et cetera.

[05:06.12] The idea is, you go to lunch with a stranger and make them a friend.”

[05:12.24] Henry Crabtree is 26 years old and lives in London.

[05:18.35] He said that when you have close work friends, “You’re not only working with each other but for each other.”

[05:28.17] He was hired in December 2021 onto a small marketing team for a software company.

[05:36.94] That company has workers around the world.

[05:41.45] “Seeing each other outside work, especially when colleagues are from other countries,” he said, really helps develop these friendships.