I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal with the headline “It Has Never Been Harder, or More Essential, to Have a Work Best Friend.” It is an interesting article about how hybrid work and working from home make socializing at work even more difficult.

According to the article, a Gallup survey of nearly 4,000 hybrid workers in 2022 found 17% said they had a work best friend, down from 22% in 2019. The results haven’t been good for employee morale, particularly among young people, who are more eager to bring their whole selves to work. On Instagram and TikTok, “#workbestie” has been on the rise.

Gallup data repeatedly show that employees with work best friends feel more invested and productive in their jobs. Yet the new normal of hybrid work makes friendship extremely difficult and even makes socializing tough.

All of this, of course, has implications on the office and workplace design. Should we care if offices are no longer a social hub? Is it the place of a company to create a culture where friendships are created among coworkers?

The ideas of friendship and connections (and the social importance of them) were outlined two decades ago in a book by Robert Putnam, “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,” in which he demonstrated, with scads of data, that America was transforming from a nation of joiners to a nation of loners. At the time the book was published in 2000, the author and academic found that we were going to church less, joining clubs less and, he warned, losing trust in our fellow Americans and our institutions.

Of course, that has accelerated in recent years and Putnam is again making headlines with the new documentary, “Join or Die” that explores his research and study of why Americans seem to be more and more isolated.

I remember discussing Putnam’s book in 2000 — interestingly, while bowling with a group of work friends from my previous newspaper job.

A lot has been made of the importance of maintaining company culture in an age of hybrid work. I’ve been a cheerleader of the office and its importance. And because of that, I’ve taken a beating online when I comment or disagree with someone who says hybrid is just as good and workers just as productive. Most of the people who disagree with me say bosses who want people back in the office are just control freaks who want to keep a thumb on their workers.

I don’t believe that’s true, at least not in all cases. Good managers understand the need for flexibility. If a worker needs to take their child to a doctor’s appointment, good managers don’t think twice about allowing that freedom.

But those same managers also understand the power of connection. When I was a reporter at The Grand Rapids Press, those same bowling buddies became good friends (that I still bowl with 30 years later). So why should a manager or business owner care if their employees are friendly with each other? Because when stressful or difficult times arise in the office, those friendships pay dividends. Friends help each other through tough times, especially in office settings.

Our industry has been very quiet about its position on hybrid work and working from home, despite the fact that both trends will most definitely lead to shrinking sales of office furniture and architecture and design services. I shouldn’t be surprised since we seem to live in a world where voting against our own best interests is commonplace.

But can you imagine an office with a strong corporate culture that encourages socialization and friendships? You are much more likely to help a friend in need in an office setting than you are to help a coworker living three states away that you’ve never met in person because of work from home and hybrid work. It’s really that simple.