The workplace is increasingly failing to provide a sense of belonging, leaving employees feeling more isolated despite polite interactions. According to 51job's 2016 China Employee Turnover Survey, turnover rates are high. In 2016, private enterprises saw a turnover rate of 32.5%, joint ventures and foreign firms exceeded 15%, and state-owned enterprises were the most stable at 8.2%. By age, younger employees are less stable, especially post-90s entering the workforce. They change jobs more frequently than post-70s and post-80s, with 40% switching within a year and over 60% within three years. People view work merely as a means of livelihood, making workplace relationships a kind of "fair-weather friendship." 1 The Workplace Creates the Most Familiar Strangers Adam Grant, professor of management and psychology at Wharton School, notes that high turnover also occurs in the U.S. Americans are less likely to make friends at work because they don't plan to stay long. "We no longer invest in the same way; we see relationships with colleagues as temporary and politely keep our distance." This phenomenon is also prominent in China. Who knows who will sit across from you tomorrow? Why bother opening up? Maintain politeness at work to avoid offending others, go your separate ways after hours, and even skip farewell dinners when leaving, losing contact with former colleagues. 2 Instability Causes Workplace Loneliness We used to think "it's lonely at the top," that only high-level managers feel workplace loneliness. But now, this loneliness is spreading, and lower-level employees increasingly feel isolated. A 2015 paper in the journal Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that employees with lower autonomy and power feel lonely; as workplace connections decline, long-term instability and loose ties make work increasingly "virtual." Virtualization means face-to-face colleagues communicate via WeChat and QQ, leaders assign tasks through OA systems, and interactions become procedural and virtual, accelerating loneliness. 3 The More Unstable the Workplace, the More Rigid Management Company management relies on two forces: tangible rules and intangible culture. Tangible rules are written regulations: clocking in at 9 AM, fines for lateness, task assignment via OA systems, KPI assessments—a series of procedural mechanisms. Intangible culture is unwritten, the soft power of a company. For example, if everyone habitually works overtime, leaving on time becomes awkward. Not only is it awkward, but it may affect future raises and promotions. Overtime is part of the culture; it's acceptable and recognized. Intangible culture is essentially experience—the experience of predecessors, applicable to newcomers. This experience is effective and simple, passed down through generations. It may include bad habits, but it reflects the company's state. If the workplace is unstable, the binding force of culture weakens. If you don't care about others' opinions and don't plan to stay long, you can disregard corporate culture and unwritten rules. Then, only tangible rules work—just frameworks, with less humanistic care and humane systems. "When I'm in a workplace, loneliness makes me unhappy, and I can't escape that discomfort and sadness." This loneliness also acts as a catalyst for business, pushing people out of their homes to seek more interest circles and make more friends. So, as Jack Ma said, China's future business is "happiness"; everything we do is to make people happy. Source: Marketing Intelligence (ID: NewMarketing8) -END-