Work Friends: Forced Back To The Office Might Not Be The Worst Thing Ever
Look, we all know remote work is the dream. Pajamas all day, no awkward small talk by the coffee machine, and the sheer joy of avoiding Linda from accounting’s never-ending…
Group of friends partying in a nightclub and toasting drinks. Happy young people with cocktails at pub.
Look, we all know remote work is the dream. Pajamas all day, no awkward small talk by the coffee machine, and the sheer joy of avoiding Linda from accounting’s never-ending stories about her cat’s gluten allergy.
But if your boss is dragging you back into the fluorescent-lit abyss of the office, there is one silver lining:
Work Friends.
I’m not talking about the coworker you begrudgingly nod at in the breakroom. I mean the real ones. The ride-or-dies who make your shift bearable.
The ones who will side-eye you during a meeting when someone suggests a “quick sync” at 4:55 PM. The ones who send you memes all day so you don’t rage-quit.
You know—your work besties.
Don’t believe me? A new survey says that people with work friends are happier, more productive, and less likely to throw their stapler across the room in frustration. (Okay, I made that last one up, but it feels true.)
Here’s why:
- Improved Mental Health (47%) – Venting about that disaster of a team project to someone who gets it is cheaper than therapy.
- Improved Productivity (46%) – You work harder when you have someone to impress. Or at least, someone to suffer through the grind with.
- Increased Desire to Stay with the Company (45%) – You may hate your job, but your work BFF makes it tolerable.
- Increased Morale (41%) – Inside jokes and shared suffering make everything funnier. Even corporate jargon-filled emails.
- Reduced Burnout (39%) – When work gets rough, a quick gossip session can be the reset button you need.
- Less Desire to Quit (34%) – Why leave when you’d have to start over and find new work friends? The horror.
- Fewer Workplace Conflicts (33%) – Friends keep the drama to a minimum… unless you work in HR.
- Better Opinion of Company Culture (33%) – The free coffee might be terrible, but at least you have good people to complain about it with.
- Better Opinion of the Company in General (29%) – Let’s be real—if you like your coworkers, even a mediocre job feels less soul-crushing.
I can vouch for this. Some of my closest friends? I met them at old jobs. In fact, I just had dinner with a crew I worked with back in high school at the Village Mall in Canton. Shout out to Village Card & Gift and Freshen’s Yogurt—where the pay was low, but the friendships were high-quality.
So, if you’re being dragged back to the office, at least look on the bright side. You might just find a new bestie to help you survive the madness.
