The friendship premium: A majority of people would trade 20% in salary to work with close friends, KPMG survey finds

The workers are accused of accompaniment a lot, in fact, the results of the survey published on Tuesday from the review, taxes and the KPMG consulting company. 57 % will choose a 10 % lower salary of a market value to work with friends on a job with a 10 % salary on the market without close friendships.

This “friendship premium” is effectively estimated at 20 % of a person’s salary, according to KPMG.

Meanwhile, 45 % of people reported the feelings of unity at the workplace, almost an increase in the KPMG friends report last year. And 81 % of workers consider having relationships in the workplace “very important”.

This year, KPMG has surveyed 1,019 employees full -time employees about the relative importance of salary and friends in work, balance between work, life, learning opportunities, company culture and how employee experiences in technology.

KPMG decision to explore friendships at the workplace was driven by the increasing recognition that the human relationship is necessary for business success. Sandy Torchia, Vice president of Talents and Culture in KPMG, luck.

“our [2024] The survey revealed that the friendships in the workplace are a solution to the maximum value to address issues such as feeling unit, exhaustion and withdrawal – increasingly famous for the workforce today, “she said. [2025] The survey indicates that these issues not only continue, but have become more prevalent. ”

The value of friendships at work

Kelissy Zamit, a lawyer for a California -based California -based recruitment lawyer, California, luck No wonder that some employees will choose lower salaries to work with friends.

Based on her work with clients, “Warm organizational culture is often higher for employees compared to simple cash wages,” Samit said. “Work in an atmosphere of confidence and friendship can increase commitment and stay longer with one company even if salaries are not in strategy levels of individual experience.”

Erar Etug, founder and chief science official at Fractional Insights Consulting, said, ” luck This trend reflects a greater redefinition of value at work.

“People are no longer improving only for income – they improve the meaning, growth and communication,” said Eatough, who uses psychological sciences while consulting Fortune 500 leaders. She obtained a doctorate in industrial organizational psychology from the University of South Florida.

“We see this in our diagnoses,” I continued. “Workers are increasingly looking for the environments in which they feel safe, communicating and respect. Friendship is often the most human human expression of the culture that made them right.”

A recent survey of fracture paint showed that more than 50 % of employees feel that they “constantly search for themselves at work.”

“This type of chronic self -protection indicates the collapse of confidence and belonging and leads to the erosion of motivation and innovation over time,” he added. “Friendships in the workplace can be a buffer against the unit epidemic.”

Meanwhile, friendships often exceed the surface bonds. Friends can serve as support systems at important times such as when the employee faces discrimination, harassment or revenge, Szmet said.

The collapse of generations and the friendships of artificial intelligence

The results of the KPMG survey found the values of friendships in the workplace more than all groups. Two -thirds of General Z will choose a role with friendship premium, followed by 58 % for children’s boundaries, 57 % of the millennial generation, and 55 % of Gen Xers.

Torchia said that while friendships are valuable across all generations, younger workers depend heavily on work friends to move in mental health and fatigue. She added that they are likely to look at their friends as “social conductors” and “close”.

Artificial intelligence has also become a source of companionship – for the best or the worse – for some workers. While 99 % of workers have been informed that they were interested in the Chatbot group, Amnesty International, which could become a friend or reliable work companion, according to KPMG, 49 % said technology creates wrong contacts and replaces deep conversations with surface reactions. Torchia calls this “great artificial intelligence”.

She said that Amnesty International “could serve as a tool to help reduce unit as our hunger amplified.” “The winning organizations are those who benefit from emerging technology such as artificial intelligence to create more feasible humanitarian reactions,” “the winning organizations are those who benefit from emerging technology such as artificial intelligence to create more feasible humanitarian reactions.”

Eatough said whenever we are automated, the more valuable and powerful human ties become.

And she said: “If we are not keen, we are risked by designing sterile workplaces and extracted in the pursuit of efficiency.” But the situation of people at the forefront of performance, communications and bonuses can “create environments where both artificial intelligence and authentic communication flourish side by side.”