The Current State of Employee Mental Health

The key headline is that mental wellbeing is worsening:

“In the last 10 years, the number of people expressing stress, sadness, anxiety, anger or worry has been on the rise, reaching its highest levels since the Gallup surveys began.”

And the data shows that the experience people have at work plays a significant role.

Mental Health Issues:
Widespread stress and disengagement: The report reveals that 41% of employees experience significant stress daily, with a strong correlation between poor management practices and higher stress levels. This stress is a crucial factor in declining mental health, impacting both work and personal lives.
Loneliness and remote work: Approximately 20% of employees report daily loneliness, with fully remote workers experiencing higher levels of loneliness (25%) compared to their on-site counterparts (16%). This highlights the social isolation challenges faced by remote employees.
Decline in wellbeing among younger workers: The wellbeing of employees under 35 has notably decreased, reflecting broader generational challenges that leaders need to address.

The report calls out the recent research by Oxford University which looked at the impact of popular solutions used by organisations to help promote wellbeing, and manage stress, at work such as wellbeing apps, or stress management training. Interestingly the study found “little evidence in support of any benefits from these interventions with even some small indication of harm”. This finding may not come as a big surprise given these types of interventions are often put in place to treat the symptom rather than the cause.