More than one in 10 employees in a survey by YouGov for BT Business admitted to becoming more insular and more than a quarter (27%) are putting in longer hours.
Just 19% said they preferred to work with colleagues. The findings come just when employers need collaboration and maximum productivity.
BT Business said the findings showed that employees instinctively protected their own work-stacks in tougher economic conditions.
Mike Bourne, professor of Business Performance at Cranfield University School of Management, said: Team collaboration and knowledge-sharing is essential to help businesses chart a way through the current climate. However, while some employees are understandably worried about job security, firms with business processes to automate teamwork are able to reconcile both workforce productivity and personal performance."
YouGov interviewed 3,473 employees for the New Workplace study.
Insecure employees reject teamwork to protect their own jobs
Employees have ditched teamwork in order to protect their own projects and contacts as the recession deepens