Progressive congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar have been friends since taking office.

Making friends at work, both in DC and beyond, has been linked to better work performance and increased job satisfaction.

Minorities say having work friends leads to less burnout.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Ilhan Omar aren't just making headlines with their progressive policy agenda and active social media platforms — they're also hanging out as friends.

Ocasio-Cortez posted a picture of the group on her Instagram in November with the caption "squad" to describe their friendship (a term Taylor Swift infamously used to describe her own group of pals, according to The New York Times.)

From Joe Biden and Barack Obama to George W. Bush and Condoleezza Rice, forming close friendships in DC is nothing new. Becoming friends with the people you work with can sometimes be inevitable, especially when Americans spend more and more time on the job.

Forging work bonds has been linked to greater productivity, better decision making, and increased happiness outside of the office. Yet, less Americans report making friends at work, due in part to job-hopping among millennials.

Here are six benefits to making friends at work, and lessons we can learn from "the squad's" companionship.