According to Inc, a new EY study of over 5,000 employees globally reveals a troubling pattern where workers feel less understood, less supported, and less able to be authentic. The data shows that a staggering 85% of employees report experiencing moments of exclusion at work. The disconnect is most severe among younger generations, with 54% of Gen Z and 50% of Millennials saying they regularly go a full workday without a single real-time conversation. EY Global Vice Chair Karyn Twaronite notes that while technology has made people more reachable, it hasn’t fostered authentic connection. The report also finds that external uncertainty is heightening emotional strain and that expectations for psychological safety are fundamentally changing.
The Real Cost of Digital Reach
Here’s the thing: we built all these tools for efficiency—Slack, Teams, email—thinking connection would be a happy byproduct. But it turns out that’s not how it works. Being “reachable” 24/7 is not the same as being seen or heard. You can have a calendar packed with Zoom calls and still feel completely isolated if those interactions are purely transactional. This study basically confirms our worst fears: the digital-first model, as it’s currently implemented, is failing human psychology. And the younger your workforce is, the worse it gets. Think about it. If half of your entry-level talent is clocking eight hours without a genuine conversation, what does that do for mentorship, culture, and simple problem-solving?
Winners, Losers, and the Psyche Market
So who benefits from this crisis? Well, the entire “future of work” and employee wellbeing software sector is poised for even more growth. Platforms that can prove they facilitate real human connection—not just more efficient messaging—will win. The losers are companies that ignore this data and double down on purely digital, async-only communication as a cost-saving measure. They’ll see attrition spike, especially with Gen Z and Millennials. This isn’t just a soft HR issue; it’s a direct threat to productivity and innovation. You can’t have psychological safety, where people propose wild ideas or admit mistakes, in a vacuum. It requires trust, and trust requires real, messy human interaction. The market is going to start pricing in this “connection deficit,” and companies with a bad culture score will pay for it in talent wars.
Beyond Software to Human Systems
Look, the solution isn’t another SaaS subscription. It’s a leadership and operational mindset shift. It means deliberately designing for connection in a remote or hybrid world—mandating camera-on brainstorming sessions, creating virtual “water cooler” spaces that aren’t awkward, and training managers to check in on emotional well-being, not just project status. For roles that are truly hands-on, like in manufacturing or industrial settings, the physical environment already fosters a different kind of camaraderie. But even there, the digital tools used on the shop floor—for monitoring, control, and data—need to be intuitive and supportive, not isolating. In those critical environments, reliability is key, which is why specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, focus on hardware that just works, removing one more layer of friction and frustration for the operator. The core challenge, however, is universal: we have to stop conflating communication with connection. The tech is just the pipe. The humanity has to be the point.
