Please note that this article and podcast contain references to suicide and stillbirth. If you need to talk to someone and you are based in Australia, you can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 for support.

When a senior executive at one of Australia’s major banks stood before his team and shared that it was the fifth anniversary of his stillbirth, something remarkable happened. The vulnerability that filled the room cut through years of corporate distance in a single moment. As clinical psychologist Dr Zac Seidler witnessed this scene, he saw firsthand how authentic human connection could transform workplace dynamics. “He was crying in front of this whole group and just watching the way in which that humanised him,” said Dr Seidler, who was recently interviewed by Dr Juliet Bourke, Adjunct Professor in the School of Management and Governance at UNSW Business School for The Business Of, a podcast from UNSW Business School.

This moment encapsulates a broader crisis facing Australian businesses today. Despite being more digitally connected than ever before, employees report feeling increasingly isolated, unsupported, and burned out. The cost extends far beyond individual suffering, with workplace mental health issues now costing Australian businesses $39 billion annually, according to Dr Seidler, Global Director of Men’s Health Research at Movember and Associate Professor with Orygen at the University of Melbourne.

How technology creates workplace isolation

The modern workplace has created a paradox that many organisations fail to recognise. Technology promised to connect us, yet it has become a primary driver of workplace loneliness. Dr Seidler explains the mechanisms behind this trend: “The way we work is rapidly changing. Home offices increase surveillance, tech performance pressures, the idea that your work is your life, that blurring of values and time, and I think that that ends up making people pretty lonely.”

The always-on culture has fundamentally altered how employees experience work. Constant connectivity blurs boundaries between professional and personal life, creating what researchers call the workplace flexibility paradox. While remote work offers convenience, Dr Seidler said it often leaves employees isolated in home offices for hours without meaningful human interaction.

The psychological impact extends beyond simple isolation. Source confusion, where employees cannot distinguish between anxiety from work pressures and stress from external events, creates a complex web of workplace stress. This confusion has become particularly problematic as online and offline experiences merge throughout the workday, according to Dr Seidler. Employees might be at work reading some bad news between Zoom meetings, for example. “All of that bleeds into each other, and the anxiety becomes this homogenous blob, which just consumes you in many ways. And you don’t know how to intervene, because you don’t know what was causing it,” he said.

The death of workplace culture

Traditional workplace interactions that once fostered connection have largely disappeared. The casual conversations at water coolers, workplace drinks, and spontaneous lunch meetings that built relationships and provided emotional support no longer exist in most organisations. Dr Seidler observed a fundamental shift in workplace dynamics: “The way in which we’re engaging in the workplace now doesn’t look the same as it did five years ago,” he said. “When it comes to the water cooler chat of days of old, I’m just not witnessing that anymore. I go into plenty of workplaces. I see how they’re interacting with one another, and it’s very siloed and very project-oriented.”

Learn more: Psychosocial safety: Addressing hazards and enhancing wellbeing

This cultural shift has created work environments where meaningful human connections have been replaced by purely transactional interactions. The assumption that time previously spent in workplace socialisation would naturally transfer to family time has proven false. “And it seems very much like the types of interactions of going out for lunches and workplace drinks that have completely been dismantled. So I think workplace culture is nowhere near as strong as it was,” said Dr Seidler.

UNSW Business School Professor Barney Tan echoed Dr Seidler’s observations on the podcast and said that workplaces that even have extensive amenities often fail to address the core issue. “Many modern workplaces are so efficiency-driven that we’ve eroded the kinds of interactions that support wellbeing, those spontaneous chats in the pantry, the casual venting over lunch, those water cooler moments may seem trivial, but they play a huge role in how supported people feel at work,” he said. “And these interactions have become even more uncommon post-covid.”

Middle-aged men face unique workplace isolation

One demographic bears a particularly heavy burden in this epidemic: men in their late forties. This group, often in senior positions and earning substantial salaries, experiences disproportionate levels of workplace loneliness. Dr Seidler explained the underlying dynamics: “I think the fact that they often hold the most power and are making the most money, leads to a pretty negative view of lots of these guys. And also, when they move into those middle years (in the same way that women often talk about it), they kind of gain a strange-like emotional invisibility, whereby they are the protector and provider for their family or their workplace, but they are no more than that,” he said.

As men transition into fatherhood and career advancement, they systematically abandon social connections that previously provided emotional support. Cultural expectations compound this isolation. “Even though we are moving towards, hopefully consistently, gender equality, this notion of men as the breadwinner is still rife within our culture,” he said. “Many men feel it, so we have lots of guys who are ageing, and they are slowly dropping close friends because men are putting their attention elsewhere, not realising that those friendships are so essential for their wellbeing.”

The statistics reveal the severity of this crisis. “They always say that they’re life-saving and life-giving in many ways. They don’t necessarily realise that to the point where you have one in five, one in four men (depending on the sample) who say that they have no-one close to them that they can call on. They have no close friends,” said Dr Seidler, who explained that this isolation directly correlates with the highest suicide rates occurring among middle-aged men, making workplace intervention not just beneficial but potentially life-saving.

Why wellness programs fail

Most organisational responses to employee mental health remain superficial. The installation of pool tables, ping pong facilities, or meditation rooms represents what experts call performative wellness rather than systemic change. “I think that lots of people, maybe we’ll call it the pool table or ping pong table phenomenon, have dropped this thing into the common room and thought that they’ve washed their hands clean of any need to create any different processes. And you often see that 10% of the workforce is playing ping pong all the time because they’re the ones who aren’t under the pump. They’re not the ones who are smashed,” said Dr Seidler, who said this really annoys everyone else who can hear them playing.

Learn more: How to manage psychosocial hazards in the workplace

Employee Assistance Programs face similar challenges despite widespread availability, and Dr Seidler said research shows less than 5% of employees actually utilise such programs. Trust concerns dominate employee reluctance, with many workers fearing that seeking help could impact their career progression. Prof. Tan explains the core issue: “People worry that using an EAP might come back to bite them professionally, even if their service claims to be confidential; that lack of psychological safety kills engagement.”

The fundamental problem lies in the absence of cultural change. “Unless perks are embedded in a culture that encourages their use, and unless people feel the permission to step back without being judged, these would just be decoration,” said Prof. Tan. “So, the real work is actually cultural.”

Programs like Mates in Construction demonstrate how industry-specific approaches can address workplace loneliness effectively. This initiative places trained construction workers on-site to provide peer support, creating accessible mental health resources that feel authentic to the workplace culture. Dr Seidler explained the difference: “So it’s not an EAP because it’s literally other employees. They are other guys who have been in that place, and they are not there to offer you counselling. It’s Tom, who used to work next to you, who now gets a mate’s hat as he walks around on-site.”

The success of peer support models lies in understanding that authentic connection requires shared experience and ongoing presence rather than external professional services. “This is where you get a stepped care, like a tiered system,” added Dr Seidler, who described how these programs create pathways to appropriate levels of support when needed.

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The business case for connection

The financial implications of ignoring employee mental health extend far beyond direct healthcare costs. Dr Seidler made the economic argument clear to business leaders: “It could not be clearer that this is harming productivity. It’s harming cohesion, and it’s something that we really need to be taken seriously,” said Dr Seidler, who explained that the hidden costs manifest in reduced creativity, deteriorated team dynamics, and increased turnover.

An important change leaders can make is demonstrating vulnerability, which creates permission for authentic workplace relationships. The aforementioned banking executive’s disclosure about his personal loss exemplifies this approach. “The lines are very blurred between work and life, and that doesn’t mean that we trauma dump,” said Dr Seidler. “But it does mean that we find ways to show up at work as three-dimensional beings, because that is the way in which you cut through loneliness. Loneliness thrives on being at arm’s length, and I think that we have a lot of that because we are so rushed, because we are so productivity- and profit-driven.”

The solution demands moving beyond individual responsibility narratives towards systemic workplace changes. In the process, Dr Seidler challenged the prevailing approach: “The individual only has so much power,” he said. “When you are struggling to make ends meet, or you are working to a deadline, or whatever it might be, you need your CEO from the top-down, to create something that is actually going to help you because helping yourself is a bit of a pipe dream sometimes when all of those stressors are completely out of your control.”

Successful interventions also require an understanding of how different groups connect naturally. For men in particular, traditional face-to-face conversations can create discomfort. “Forcing eye-to-eye, face-to-face conversation for many men is extremely stressful. We often talk at Movember about shoulder-to-shoulder, and how central that is in creating comfort,” Dr Seidler affirmed. Workplace solutions might include structured activities like randomly assigned squash partnerships or other side-by-side activities that facilitate natural conversation.

Looking ahead, Dr Seidler said there is potential for significant change, He observed in some workplaces “a bit of a revolt” around pressure and the impact this creates. “We cannot keep this going. We cannot keep up,” he said. The choice facing business leaders is clear: invest in genuine human connection or continue paying the escalating costs of workplace isolation. Organisations that create authentic connection opportunities, foster psychological safety, and encourage vulnerable leadership will not only improve employee mental health but also drive productivity, creativity, and retention, he concluded.

Workplace loneliness FAQ

What is workplace loneliness?
Workplace loneliness is the sense of isolation employees experience due to a lack of meaningful connection at work.

How does technology contribute to workplace isolation?
Technology increases surveillance, blurs work–life boundaries, and reduces face-to-face interactions, which fuels loneliness.

Why are middle-aged men at greater risk of workplace loneliness?
Middle-aged men often lose close social ties while advancing careers, leaving them isolated and vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes.

What is the cost of workplace mental health issues in Australia?
Workplace mental health challenges cost Australian businesses $39 billion annually in lost productivity and turnover.

Why do workplace wellness programs often fail?
Wellness programs fail when they lack cultural integration and are seen as performative rather than genuine support mechanisms.

What role can leaders play in reducing workplace loneliness?
Leaders can reduce loneliness by showing vulnerability, fostering connection, and creating psychologically safe environments.