Outside of work, the picture grows grimmer

The World Happiness Report, for example, analyzes three primary measures of happiness, and all three are at or near record lows. And the 2019 Gallup Global Emotions Report found stress, worry, and anger among people around the world at multi-year highs.

These increases in anger and stress are being accompanied by a surge in loneliness.

Numerous countries, seeing these statistics, are taking the problem of loneliness seriously as a public health crisis. It remains to be seen whether the COVID-19 pandemic and other recent crises change this fundamental dynamic