Employee resource groups for women, veterans, and minorities have become standard corporate fare over the past several years. Now there's a new addition to the lineup that's raising eyebrows and sparking debate: men's groups.
At British broadcaster Channel 4, more than 50 male employees gather on video calls every other Thursday to talk about things that don't usually come up around the office water cooler. Topics include masculine identity, the challenges of raising sons in the age of the manosphere, and practical strategies for managing stress and toxic masculinity at work.
"The biggest surprise I had was how desperate men were to talk and learn," Tafadzwa Muchenje, a senior marketing executive at Channel 4 and co-founder of the group, told Bloomberg. "There was so much desire and appetite."
Over at London-based defense company BAE Systems, the men's group focuses on providing support for colleagues facing difficult moments—whether that's a medical diagnosis or more personal struggles.
"We don't judge, we don't offer any diagnosis," Glyn, a BAE employee and co-founder of the group, told Bloomberg. "We are there just for people to talk to like-minded people."
The Loneliness Problem Nobody Wants to Talk About
There's been mounting concern about men's social lives in recent years, and the statistics paint a troubling picture. Men are struggling to form meaningful connections in ways that weren't happening a generation ago.
According to the Aspen Economic Strategy Group, men between 18 and 30 spent an average of 6.6 hours of their non-working daytime hours alone each day in 2023. Another study from 2021 by the Survey Center on American Life found that 15% of men said they had no close friends. That's a dramatic increase from just 3% in 1990, and it's significantly higher than the 10% of women who report the same level of social isolation.
This lack of social support appears to be directly linked to mental health challenges. At Virgin Media O2's men's group in the U.K., several participants revealed they had contemplated suicide within the past year. The group was able to connect them with professional support services that might have otherwise gone unused.
"The key thing for us is that we're not afraid to show vulnerabilities," Jit Thaker, a senior project manager who helps run the group, told Bloomberg. "And that gives other people that courage to speak up."
The Backlash Is Real
Not everyone is convinced these men's groups are necessary or appropriate. Critics point out that men already dominate corporate hierarchies—they held 61% of all managerial positions and 71% of all C-Suite positions in 2024, according to the Lean In leadership program.
The argument goes that men "don't necessarily need to commiserate, because they're the ones getting promoted, they're the ones holding all the cards," Chris McCormick, an independent corporate human resources advisor, told Bloomberg.
To address these concerns, many men's groups have adopted a more inclusive approach. Some allow women to join their meetings, and most deliberately avoid controversial topics. Instead, they focus on issues like men's physical health, fatherhood, and the emotional impact of experiences like divorce or spousal miscarriage.
The men participating in these groups argue that the benefits extend well beyond the individual. They believe these gatherings create healthier staff overall, reduce long-term absences for mental health reasons, and build stronger connections between colleagues of all gender identities. In other words, everyone wins when men have a safe space to talk about what's actually going on in their lives.
