Summer holidays are on the horizon for many Europeans, but a sizeable portion head into their holidays feeling unusually anxious and exhausted.
The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and now the cost-of-living crisis are hitting the morale of European workers in an unprecedented way, according to new research from wellness services company LifeWorks.
More than 500 people participated in an online survey in April in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Poland. Nearly half said they felt more sensitive to stress than before the pandemic.
And a third said their mental health was negatively affecting their productivity.
Overall, 41 percent of those surveyed by LifeWorks considered themselves to be at high risk of eventually having a mental health disorder, such as diagnosed anxiety and depression.
That’s nearly three times the proportion found in surveys he conducted in 2017-2019, before the pandemic.
“This period of time is going to be remarkable in history, I think, for the relentless turmoil that populations are going through,” LifeWorks global research lead Paula Allen told Euronews Next.
“When you think about what Europeans have been through recently, you really have an idea why that happened. We had this pandemic, the economic impact of the pandemic, the increased isolation, a sense of loss of control,” he said.
“And then, when we were starting to see the end of the light at the end of the tunnel, the war in Ukraine appeared.”
Younger people, women, parents and people with lower incomes are struggling the most, according to the report. The correlation between income and mental health is “very strong,” Allen said.
Now, European workers are also increasingly anxious about high inflation and fear of not being able to make ends meet, he said.
More than a third of those surveyed said they have no emergency savings to rely on.
According to the survey, which looked at levels of anxiety, depression and isolation, among other factors, the lowest mental health score was found in Poland (53.6), followed by Spain (57.1), France (57.4 ), Italy (58.4), Germany (62.3) and the Netherlands (67.9).
All of these countries had a “tense” mental health score, well below the “optimal” category, which has a score of 80 to 100.
More remote work and more isolation
A third of the survey participants reported that they often felt lonely.
That feeling of isolation was highest in France, reaching 40 percent of workers, followed by 39 percent in Poland, 37 percent in Spain, 35 percent in Italy and 28 percent in Germany.
This isolation is not only bad for our mind, but also for our body. Research suggests it puts people at higher risk for cardiovascular problems and immune system disorders, and it’s insidiously becoming the new normal, Allen said.
“We’ve gotten used to our worlds being smaller in the last couple of years, and a lot of people feel like that’s okay,” he said, stressing that this is not good for our mental health.
“If you get used to something, it becomes more comfortable, even if it’s not good for you,” he said, drawing a comparison to how cars and machines have made our lives less physically active.
“We have technology, we have the ability to live alone and work from home and not go online. It may feel comfortable right now, but it’s not good for our minds not to have that social relationship,” Allen said.
A separate study by researchers at Boston University and the University of Canterbury found that remote workers who report the most feelings of loneliness think about leaving their jobs more often than “least lonely” employees.
More than 1,000 remote workers were surveyed for that study, commissioned by hospitality brand Selina, which targets digital nomads, and the #WorkAnywhere advocacy movement.
It found that the loneliest employees were those who worked from home, while those who felt most satisfied and connected with other people were those who used co-working spaces.
What can companies do?
Companies can, and should, help their employees weather this mental health storm, Allen said.
They may offer counseling services to their employees, but also financial education programs and savings plans to help them deal with money-related stressors.
Finding ways to support employees who have to care for children or other family members can also help.
On a day-to-day basis, Allen said companies should pay special attention to allowing time for personal contact between people — manager and employee, employee and employee — “such as creating forums where people can connect on a personal level.”
“That is very important because it helps build our sense of belonging. It helps build our sense that we are part of something,” she said.
“We have become very efficient in our work. We can trade on these 20-minute Zoom calls and then move on. But that does not build a sense of belonging. So organizations really should do well to create a culture where there’s more room to have that kind of social contact.”
This social connection is even more vital to engaging and retaining the youngest employees: the Millennial and Gen Z workers whose mental health shows the greatest signs of strain.
“When you’re young and new to your career, it’s very, very important to feel like you’re on the right track,” Allen said.
“So having recognition, having contact, having mentorship, even in a virtual situation or even as we transition to hybrid work, for that younger group, it’s going to be more important.”
.
