KPMG Survey: Workplace Friendships Linked to 20% Salary Premium Amid Growing Isolation and Labor Market Uncertainty

Torchia: “We're witnessing the rise of the friendship premium at work. Companies are discovering that in addition to strong compensation and benefits packages, the ability to facilitate authentic human connections is a valuable currency to attract and retain leading talent.”

• 57% of people would choose a role with salary 10% below market with close work friendships over a role with salary 10% over market without close friendships, effectively valuing workplace relationships at a 20% salary premium.
• Companies that demonstrate strong ratings across all five characteristics—salary, friends at work, work-life balance, learning opportunities and company culture—could increase their preference among potential employees by 28 points beyond the market average.
• Work-life balance is the strongest driver of job preference among all attributes. Additionally, the combination of strong work-life balance and frequent learning opportunities boosts an employer’s preference to 71% among potential employees.
• Close work friendships are increasing in importance, with 87% of employees saying they are "very important" (up 6 percentage points since November 2024).
• The top professional benefit respondents attribute to close work friendships is increased productivity and motivation to surpass job requirements.
• Among generations, 90% of Gen Z says close work friends are very important compared to 77% of Boomers.

Torchia: “We're witnessing a friendship mirage in the workplace: universal connection on the surface, increasing loneliness underneath. Surface-level connections are not equivalent to authentic human engagement that can support employees and drive organizational performance.”

• Workplace loneliness has increased, with 45% of employees feeling "isolated and alone" at least sometimes at work–nearly doubling from 25% in November 2024. Remote employees (67%) and people working in the Telecommunications, Media and Tech industry (65%) have been hit the hardest.
• Men (48%) are now more likely to feel isolated and alone at work than women (42%), but both have increased drastically since 2024 – a 29-point increase for men and a 12-point increase for women.
• Nearly 9 in 10 (84%) professionals find close friends are "very important" to their mental health at work, rising to 93% for remote workers.

Torchia: “Here's the great AI paradox: it can serve as a tool to help alleviate loneliness while also amplifying our hunger for authentic relationships. The organizations winning are those leveraging emerging technology like AI to create more meaningful human interactions, not fewer.”

• 99% are interested in an AI chatbot that could become a close friend or trusted companion at work and 98% want AI systems that suggest coworkers based on shared interests.
• 86% say generative AI has increased their need for human collaboration (94% among remote workers).
• 81% have formed close friendships with colleagues they rarely see in person, yet half (49%) report technology creates false connections and replaces deep conversations with superficial interactions.

• Three in four workers (75%) say financial constraints prevent them from socializing with colleagues outside work—a 21-point increase since 2024, with 82% of senior employees and 100% of Boomers feeling especially constrained.
• Entry-level workers (23%) are most likely to cite personal beliefs/values differences as ending work friendships, while this ranks lowest for senior-level workers (12%). Meanwhile, Boomers show the highest comfort level sharing political views with work friends (73%), followed by Gen X (59%).

Torchia: “The future belongs to organizations that engineer conditions for humans to thrive at work. We're moving beyond hoping friendships happen organically to deliberately designing systematic opportunities for deep professional relationships. This can help unlock collective human potential.”

• 89% consider company-facilitated personal interactions very important (up 5 points), with 87% saying friendship-enabling cultures are crucial for retention and 90% for considering new opportunities.
• 91% say their manager or other senior leaders have encouraged them to foster friendships to help advance their careers, with 28% of employees reporting notable productivity boosts and drive to exceed job requirements following making friends at work.
• Work friends most often play the role of confidant (33%), accountability partner (30%) and mentor (30%) – and these are also identified as the most beneficial relationships for employers to help with facilitating (30%, 25% and 25%, respectively). Similarly, employees report that work friendships are typically deepened by sharing knowledge and skills (32%) and acknowledging each other’s personal achievements (31%).
• Informal social interactions – like attending or organizing team bonding activities (38%), and involvement with clubs or groups (36%) – have been more successful at establishing work friendships than formal work assignment collaborations (29%) and mentorship/coaching programs (31%).
• Having a central company location for regular in-person gatherings was identified as the most effective practice for fostering a culture of close work friendships (32%) – closely followed by creating smaller, regional offices where employees can gather (28%).