Rising levels of stress and anxiety
Industry spotlight
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Focus
Levels of stress and anxiety have increased considerably across all industries from what we saw in 2021, but some have been more affected than others. How has your industry been affected?
There are a number of ways employers can help their workforce to cope with this - from techniques to build resilience to finding support, it is key that what is offered is relevant and appropriate to your company and your people. Are you an employer of choice in your industry? How well communicated and utilised are your existing benefits?
Industry breakdown for stress and anxiety 2021 compared to 2022
Emergency services show the highest population of stressed employees with more than 4 in 5 saying they’ve been impacted. The highest increase in stress can be seen in real estate which has risen by 19% to more than 3 in 4.
If employees are stressed and anxious, this will affect their work performance, their everyday behaviours, and their ability to make decisions.
LCP viewpoint
Ashley Mould, Consultant, LCP
It is striking to see that stress and anxiety has increased across all industries from 2021 to 2022 – developing strategies to reverse this will no doubt be a priority for many employers...
...The rise in stress and anxiety within the financial services industry is consistent with the discussions I have had with the two of my clients operating in this industry – both have reported an increase in staff absences because of stress and anxiety. The data demonstrates that many other industries have been affected even more acutely.
Whilst concerning, the high proportion of employees reporting as stressed or anxious means that there is the potential for large improvements in employee efficiency, decision making and wellbeing from employers working to reduce these impacts.
Many of the key causes of stress and anxiety (financial pressures, working conditions and structures, work-life balance, and high volumes of work, for example) can be mitigated by employers; the key to doing so will lie in understanding what causes stress and anxiety amongst your workforce and how this may vary across different subgroups of your workforce, before developing targeted strategies to address this.
Some of the key causes of the impacts will be outside of the direct control of employers (uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic, environmental concerns, and social and political concerns). However, employers can engage with their workforce to enable them to better cope with these external pressures. For example, could mindfulness be promoted to your employees to leave them better placed to cope with uncertainty around the Covid-19 pandemic? Could you offer workshops that empower employees to reduce anxiety relating to, and act effectively in, socio-political movements such as the Black Lives Matter campaign? Can employee assistance programmes be set up to ensure stress and anxiety do not become severe problems?