New research by global hiring platform Indeed reveals that mental health issues in the workplace are on the rise, with 41 per cent of working Australians saying that the number of colleagues reporting mental health challenges has increased in the past two years.
But the bigger cause for concern in the report is the finding that more than half of workers say their employers do not discuss mental health and wellbeing enough in the workplace, and 40 per cent report their employers treat mental health and wellbeing as simply ‘buzzwords’ in the workplace. Because of this, half of Australians believe that their own and their colleagues’ mental health challenges will continue to increase in the next two years.
Seven out of 10 respondents indicated that mental health support will be more important for Australian workplaces in the next 24 months. In fact, 68 per cent believe that addressing mental health needs will be key to retaining employees in the future and 54 per cent say it will also be critical to attracting new talent.
Overall, 65 per cent of employees and 58 per cent of employers believe companies should prioritise employee mental health and wellbeing, yet 26 per cent of employees said that mental health is not adequately addressed in their benefits. Additionally, 62 per cent of employees believe that companies should be required to track and report on their workforce’s collective wellbeing. On the other hand, 41 per cent also believe that it will be difficult to balance organisational agendas with employee care needs.
At the moment, 49 per cent reveal in the report that their company does not have mental health training, while 31 per cent who regularly provide mental health support to colleagues indicated that they would like access to such training along with tools to help them better support their colleagues with mental health issues in the workplace.
On a more positive note, 19 per cent of currently employed Australians say their company has already appointed a chief mental health officer, with 25 per cent saying they have nominated an employee as mental health officer.
“We used to pretend the outside world didn’t impact on how we showed up at work, but COVID changed this forever,” Amanda Gordon, Psychologist at Indeed, said. “It changed how we work, and our lives outside of work – and inextricably linked these two worlds overnight without warning.
“The heightened state of fear and uncertainty COVID held us in for close to two years exacted a great social and psychological toll and it’s therefore no surprise that this has shown up in the Australian workplace,” Gordon added. “To this end, care and compassion will be critical in the employer-employee relationship of the future. Employers must consider how they will meet the significant mental health and wellbeing needs of their employees by offering a range of support they can access through their preferred channels at any given time. Those who do, will be best placed to attract and retain talent in the future of work.”
