Boredom's heavy toll: How workplace malaise impacts global GDP

Scientists studying the mental health of full-time workers have created a report on the quality of workplaces globally. According to the Gallup Institute's report, boredom affects employees' mental health more negatively than unemployment.

Stress-related to assigned tasks in workplaces, training, overtime, and interpersonal conflicts can be challenging. Working among people is not always straightforward, as anyone who has ever regretted taking a particular job can attest. But how does the current relationship between employees' mental health and their tasks stand? The Gallup Institute examined this question in its annual report, "The State of the Global Workplace. The Voice of the World's Employees".

The Gallup Institute's research indicates that employees' poor well-being directly impacts global GDP. How much exactly does sadness cost? Scientists have determined that it amounts to as much as £7 trillion annually globally. The researchers also discovered one particularly significant piece of information: boredom at work affects employees worse than unemployment.

The report also examined the issue of loneliness among employees. Gallup Institute researchers wrote: "Fully remote employees report significantly higher levels of loneliness (25%) than do those who work exclusively on–site (16%)—hybrid workers fall in between at 21%. Social isolation and chronic loneliness have devastating effects on physical and mental health".

The researchers add: "Harvard Professor and Gallup Senior Scientist Lisa Berkman and her colleagues studied the relationship between social and community ties and mortality rates over a nine–year span. The risk of mortality among people who lacked community and social ties was two times greater than that of people who had many social contacts. These differences were independent of physical health, socioeconomic status and health practices. Other studies have found similar relationships between strong social connections and longevity. The good news is that work itself decreases loneliness."

Scientists conclude the topic of loneliness with these words: "In general, working adults are less likely to experience loneliness (20%) than those who are unemployed (32%), and this remains true across age groups.

This positive effect is much stronger, however, as employee engagement rises. If employees are actively disengaged, they are almost as likely to be lonely as those who are unemployed. If employees are engaged—if they find their work meaningful and feel connected to their team members and organization—their likelihood of loneliness is substantially lower."