According to the study “Professional loneliness: when AI becomes close to you at work” (Symetria / Poznań University of Economics 2025), up to 82 percent white-collar workers in Poland admits to feeling isolated, a every fifth employed has not established a single close relationship at work. The data for people under 35 are particularly disturbing. It is in this most professionally active group, key to the technology sector, that loneliness is felt most strongly.
Global data from Gallup (2025) shows that the level of employee engagement has decreased to 21 percentwhich means one of the lowest results in the history of measurements. The biggest drop – as much as by 5 pp — recorded among managers under 35 years of age. This generation, which, according to a study by Symetria and the Poznań University of Economics, is most exposed to isolation and digital work fatigue, determines the pace of innovation implementation today.
Data from the World Economic Forum show that 6 out of 10 young people regularly experiences loneliness. Zofia Dzik, president of the Humanites Institute, emphasized during the Loneliness, labor market, “AI innovations” conference that the problem concerns not only the well-being of employees, but also the efficiency of companies. — You can't talk about trust and relationships in soft terms. It's a tough competitive factor, she said. — Organizations with a low culture of trust have a commitment of several percent, which translates into tangible losses for the economy.
Economic cost of insulation
“Loneliness is a silent brake on economic development.” This thesis, put forward by Zofia Dzik, is confirmed by hard data. The study “Alone and Lonely. The Economic Cost of Solitude for Regions in Europe” proves that regions with a high percentage of lonely people develop slower. This is also confirmed by Polish data. When there is a lack of trust and cooperation in teams, ideas are not born and people lose energy to act. We'd better start treating investments in social capital as a condition for Poland's lasting economic advantage, and not as an addition to personnel policy, explained the president of the Humatines Institute.
Lack of trust in Polish business has its price – and it does almost a trillion zlotys a year. This is how much, according to the report of the Poznań University of Economics prepared on behalf of the National Debt Register, is hidden “distrust tax”. These are losses resulting from lack of cooperation, decision-making delays and excessive control procedures. Data from the Polish Economic Institute, cited by the Humanitas Institute, show that only 24 percent companies in Poland has ever implemented joint business projects, a 57 percent considers them too risky. In practice, this means less knowledge exchange and slower implementation of innovations.
The human factor in the AI era
Experts gathered at the conference emphasized that automation and artificial intelligence will not replace trust. 90 percent AI pilots fail due to human factors: lack of cooperation, communication and common goal.
Jakub Sitopresident of TVP3 Warszawa, confirmed that despite technological progress, emotions and interactions remain crucial. — AI is just support. Intelligence is not only analysis, but also emotions and reactions that are missing in contact with a machine, he said. He also drew attention to the problem of credibility of information and the risk of content manipulation by algorithms.
How relationships and the role of leaders are changing
The problem of loneliness was growing long before the pandemic. As she noticed prof. Joanna Tyrowiczciting time budget research, already After 2010, the number of hours spent alone began to increase in all age groups. — It wasn't a matter of Covid, but of changing the way of life and communication. It's easier to move, it's harder to build relationships, she explained.
The economist also touched upon the problem of loneliness of leaders – people who make unpopular decisions under social pressure. — A leader's loneliness is not only an emotional issue. It is also the social cost of decisions that are made without discussion, she noted.
“Loneliness has a real economic dimension,” said Prof. directly. Witold Orłowski, moving the discussion to the macroeconomic level. — If people don't trust each other and can't cooperate, the economy simply runs slower. He also added that countries with higher levels of trust achieve better results in terms of productivity and innovation.
A well-thought-out strategy for returning to work from the office
A return to offices seems inevitable, but requires a well-thought-out strategy. Bonds cannot be rebuilt by force. If there is still strong resistance among employees to return, it is worth asking why and what is behind it. People often lie in surveys. They do not necessarily have the courage to answer their superiors directly: “I feel bad in this team” or “the atmosphere is toxic.” It is much easier to cover yourself with the argument about “work-life balance”.
You also need to remember that returning to offices does not mean returning to the world before remote work. Organizations are different today and we are not the same as before the pandemic. Returns should therefore mean new principles of cooperation – a clear sense of being together, a project-based rhythm of meetings, support from leaders – and not a simple return to old habits. Only then does the office have a chance to become a place where cooperation and innovation are born again.
Zofia Dzik explained during the discussion panel that some of employees' declarations of reluctance to return to offices may result from fear of social contact. — Loneliness and isolation change our brains. The longer the isolation lasts, the more difficult it is to return to cooperation. That's why our role is to think long-term – not just listening to what people say, but understanding what they are afraid of, she said.
Business representatives emphasized the importance of returning to direct contacts and investing in employees' mental health. The statements included examples of specific actions, from organizing webinars or psychological consultations, to specialized training for managers, which are intended to sensitize them to the problem of burnout or teach them how to recognize signs of isolation in teams.
Experts emphasized that rebuilding social bonds at work should become an element of companies' development strategies, and not just a CSR initiative. Loneliness – invisible but measurable – may turn out to be one of the most serious threats to the competitiveness of the Polish economy in the coming decade. Companies with a culture of trust and cooperation are more resistant to crises and better adapt to technological changes.
