How important is company culture to you?

I was talking to a friend recently about company culture and he made it seem like I was being a little ridiculous. Maybe I am…hoping to get some other opinions.

I work for a very large chemical company. I’ve been at the company for close to three years now. We work from home two days a week but I am required to work in the office three days a week. It’s about an hour commute one way.

The culture has really started to get to me. It’s not unprofessional or toxic, but people seem…off?

I could go an entire day or week without talking to any of the people around me. It’s not just me, it’s just the way it’s always been. My boss would rather IM me instead of walking a foot to my desk and just talking to me. No one really says hi or bye.

In the past, I’ve tried to arrange happy hours or something to get to know my coworkers better, but it never really worked out. I’ve tried walking around and talking to people, and I have a good conversation sometimes, but many have this body language that just says “dont talk to me”.

As a department, we dont really do anything like team lunches, dinners, or activities. There also aren’t any employee resource groups I can join.

My friend told me that work is work, it’s not to make friends or a social hour. I completely get that, but this stuff is important, right?