The Facts

According to the mental health charity Mind, at any one time, at least one in six workers are experiencing common mental health problems, including anxiety and depression. Research studies provide strong evidence that companies with high levels of mental health awareness are more successful. According to research by University of Warwick, addressing wellbeing at work increases productivity by up to 12% . For companies and employers alike, breeding an emotionally inclusive workplace through hiring an in-house trained therapist, translates to: decreased employee turnover, higher productivity linked to lower absenteeism, greater ambassadorship, heightened engagement and an overall destigmatisation of Mental Health in the workforce. According to the global health insurer Bupa which reached out to thousands of senior business leaders, 58% felt opening up about mental health is hard.

The magnitude and burdens of mental Health

• Depression interferes with a person’s ability to complete physical job tasks about 20% of the time and reduces cognitive performance about 35% of the time. (https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/tools-resources/workplace-health/mental-health/index.html)
• Only 57% of employees who report moderate depression and 40% of those who report severe depression receive treatment to control depression symptoms. (https://www.cdc.gov/workplacehealthpromotion/tools-resources/workplace-health/mental-health/index.html)
• 92 per cent of working Singaporeans report feeling stressed, higher than the global average of 84% (source: 2019 Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey)
• Half of millennials and 75% of Gen Zers have left a job for mental health reasons (source: A recent study by Mind Share Partners, Qualtrics and SAP)
• The economic burden of Mental health disorders are on the rise in every country in the world and could cost the global economy up to US$16 trillion by 2030 if a collective failure to respond is not addressed, according to a report. (https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/mental-health-crisis-may-cost-world-22-trillion-by-2030)
• Stress-related illnesses cost Singapore’s economy S$3.2 billion (US$ 2.4 billion) annually. (https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/stress-related-illnesses-cost-singapores-economy-s32-billion-annually-study)
• Eight out of 10 people around the world were feeling stressed. In Asia, this was far worse. Nine in 10 of the respondents said that they were stressed, and as many as eight out of 10 said that they worked in an “always on” culture. (Source: 2019 Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey)

Oracle partnered with research firm Workplace Intelligence to survey more than 12,000 employees, managers, HR leaders, and C-level executives across 11 countries. The results revealed eye-opening results:

Stressful intersection between work and home life: 35% of remote workers say they’ve been putting in significantly more hours since the pandemic started (10 or more per week) — that’s over 40 extra hours per month!. (Source: Oracle, [email protected] Study 2020)

The magnitude and burdens of mental Health

Effective stress management reduces sickness absence costs by up to 20% (StressManagementSociety, 2016)

The consequences of stress-related illnesses cost businesses an estimated $200 to $300 billion a year in lost productivity (HealthAdvocate, 2018)

Absenteeism in the workplace due to depression costs the economy around $23.3 billion per year (APA, 2015)

12.8 million working days are lost in a year due to work-related stress, depression, or anxiety (HSE, 2019)

12% of respondents have called in sick because of job stress (WM)

Workplace stress leads to a 50% increase in voluntary turnover (HBR, 2015)