Quick question: When was the last time you hugged an old friend you happened to bump into at the grocery store? More than likely, you answered – “Well, certainly before last March.”

That’s just one of the side effects of the pandemic. While millions of people are now working from home, catching up with friends on Zoom meetings and even visiting their older relatives through the safety of a glass window, feelings of isolation are predictably on the rise.

Is there a solution to this dilemma? “Leaders have a responsibility to help mitigate workplace isolation,” says Jennifer Moss in “Dealing With Social Isolation” on the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) website. “New approaches,” continues Moss, “will be needed to foster healthy relationships at a distance.”

The problem is especially acute among Millennials. They are “the loneliest generation,” says Moss. “Three in 10 Millennials always or often feel lonely, according to a poll by YouGov, a London-based research and analytics company.” And that was before the pandemic hit. New studies and further research may reveal worsening problems.

But there is also good news among the data that is encouraging. Read more social isolation issues at the SHRM website.