A path to better workplace mental health: Reorienting approaches and priorities

In the last three years, the COVID-19 pandemic has raised employee mental well-being for many organizations from an underrepresented line item in company wellness offerings to a foremost strategic imperative. Pandemic and economic uncertainties have exacerbated stress, disengagement, and resignations among employees. Over 3 in 4 workers report having experienced at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the last year, and over 1 in 3 report that their symptoms have lasted 5 months to a year.¹ Burnout has become a staple of workplace lexicons, and an experience that disproportionately impacts women, low-income workers, people of color, and younger employees.²

 

In response to the changing environment, employers have made unprecedented investments in mental health. 90% of employers reported increasing their investment in 2022,³ and 80% of HR leaders globally report mental health and well-being as a top organizational priority.⁴

 

Under this elevated attention, the catalogue of mental health solutions has also grown. New ideas about what it means to address workplace mental health have proliferated rapidly—from digital tools to new paradigms of employer responsibility. Employers now have access to a wider variety of tools and strategies to choose from than ever before.

 

Mental health challenges

Taking action in the face of these options can feel challenging. And as the acute stress from COVID-19 wanes, employers may be tempted to pull away from their focus on employee mental well-being.

 

But mental health challenges in the workforce have existed long before this pivotal pandemic began—and that they will persist even after the pandemic abates. Companies taking a long-term view will not scale back on workplace mental health altogether but rather seize the opportunity to evaluate these new ideas and reallocate their efforts towards the most effective solutions for their workforce.

 

This report seeks to contribute to this conversation by discussing the following:

 

• A new workplace mental health landscape
• A multi-level perspective of mental health challenges
• Evaluating emerging trends in workplace mental health solutions
• Toward the future of sustainable workplaces

 

Read the full report

Read our report to learn how the workplace mental health landscape has evolved and how organizations can gauge the efficacy of emerging solutions.