Despite many corporations’ professed dedication to improving employee mental health, brand workers are still fighting back.
In a Glossy and Modern Retail survey of 43 workers at consumer brands, 52% of respondents agreed with the statement that they are concerned about their mental health at work. This occurred when the workers also expressed concern about economic uncertainty further, with 61% agreeing with the statement, “I am concerned about the financial health of the company where I work.”
Many companies have professed their dedication to improving employee mental health during the pandemic, with an article in the Harvard Business Review. stating in 2021 that there is “a new era of mental health at work”. With dropout rates In mind, a growing number of companies have announced the implementation of practices that include four-day work weeks, mental health days and weeks, and free subscriptions to mediation or therapy apps. MindShare workplace mental health nonprofit found in a to study Last year, the percentage of employees who experienced at least one symptom of mental illness increased from 59% in 2019 to 76% in 2021.
As a result of corporate mental health initiatives, a variety of startups have sprung up that promise to improve employee mental health, such as Modern Health, Aduro, Unmind, Vida Health, Optum, Noom and Caravan Wellness.
But according to a recent report from WorkLife, mental health efforts are futile if the corporate culture itself is toxic or if employees are not being fairly compensated. According to one expert, compensation reviews, manager training and realistic workload expectations are equally important for companies to improve employee mental well-being.
The results of the Glossy and Modern Retail survey also showed a disconnect between executives’ and co-workers’ perceptions of morale. 52% of workers considered their executives to have high morale, while 36% said the same about their coworkers. His description of his own morality was among these, at 42%.
While they may be concerned about the financial future, 70% of those surveyed agreed somewhat or totally that they are “happy in their job,” while 30% are “looking for a new job.”
At the time the survey was conducted in August, most workers were not concerned about their own job security: 70 percent said they agreed their own job was safe, and 30 percent were “fully in agreement”. A total of 15% said corporate staff had been laid off at their companies in the previous six months. This was higher than the rates that had laid off retail staff and warehouse staff, which were both 6%.
While the tech industry has been the most prominent industry to suffer mass layoffs over the past year, some consumer brands have also restructured. Examples of prominent companies that have implemented corporate layoffs in 2022 include Gap, HPV Y brighter.
Layoffs and layoffs in the broader US economy were “little changed” in November, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, which reported a total of 1.4 million cases in non-agricultural sectors. The number of job offers is still much higher, at 10.3 million, although the number has “decreased” by 353,000 since October.
