‘Young professionals are facing a mental health crisis’: Research calls on employers to increase wellbeing support in the workplace

Changes to working patterns, more than a year of social restrictions and worries about the climate crisis have had a last impact on young people’s mental health, and it is affecting their ability to do their jobs well, new research has found.

Two-thirds of young people believe that the state of their mental health impacts their work and that it is time their employers offer better support. A poll of 1,000 professionals, carried out by YouGov and commissioned by the City Mental Health Alliance (CMHA) in partnership with Bupa, found that being anxious or stressed has a direct impact on concentration levels.

Of those surveyed, one in five people said this happened either “all the time” or “often”, while 41 per cent said it happened “sometimes” in the past year. Additionally, nearly one-third of people (28 per cent) took time off work, either as sick leave or annual leave, because they were struggling with their mental health.

Respondents said the pandemic, burnout because of work and anxiety surrounding environmental issues were contributing factors to poor mental health.

Earlier this year, scientists at Imperial College London published a report finding that the climate crisis is having a “significant and multi-faceted impact” on mental health. In young people, they saw “eco-anxiety” which is grief and fear of inaction around pressing environmental issues.

The pandemic has also had an unprecedented effect on the public’s mental health. As per the latest figures from the Office of National Statistics, around one in six adults (17 per cent) experienced some form of depression in summer 2021. While this is a decrease from the previous figures from January to March, when 21 per cent of adults said they had felt depressed, it is still almost double pre-pandemic levels, when 10 per cent of adults had experienced depression.

The CMHA’s research found that young people at the beginning of their careers would like their employers to offer mental health support, with 60 per cent saying it would help them work more effectively. Additionally, 66 per cent said it would increase job satisfaction, making them want to stay at the company.

Almost half of those surveyed (47 per cent) said that whether or not a prospective employer prioritises staff’s mental health and wellbeing is one of the “most important things” they would look for.

“This research reveals that young professionals are facing a mental health crisis. We believe that businesses have a responsibility and an opportunity to support the positive mental health of their people in early careers. Or, they can exacerbate the problem by allowing stigma and unhealthy working practices to go unchecked,” Farimah Darbyshire, head of programmes at the CMHA said.

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One young professional who is an employee of the Bank of England, Ali Aswad, 23, said his employer’s mental health support was vital to his recovery when he was at risk of burnout. Aswad, who joined the bank’s graduate programme during the lockdown, experienced feelings of insecurity and self-doubt as to whether he was good enough for his role. This was exacerbated by working from home.

“As I couldn’t physically see my colleagues, in order to prove myself, I started to say ‘yes to every opportunity. I now recognise that this is a pressure I put on myself. My workload wasn’t sustainable – I was anxious and only sleeping about four to five hours a night. I was on my way to burning out, and knew I needed to speak to someone,” he said.

After seeing a counsellor, provided through his workplace, Aswad was able to reflect on his working patterns and identify the reasons behind his anxiety. “I have become better at drawing a line between work and personal life and prioritising my mental health,” he added.

While Aswad had a positive experience at his workplace, most of the respondents to the CHMA’s survey said the stigma around mental health remains a barrier to them getting help from their employer.

Only 27 per cent said they would feel comfortable using mental health services at work, while 47 per cent said they would be more inclined to use them if they had the reassurance that doing so would not impact their career. Additionally, just 29 per cent said their employer had supported their mental health during the last 12 months of the pandemic.

CHMA is now calling on businesses to improve support for young employees by improving in three areas; by challenging the stigma around mental health at work, implementing healthy working practices which protect against burnout and offering and signpost adequate wellbeing support.

Darbyshire said employers could challenge stigmas around mental health by signposting support services from day one of employment. She also pointed to the benefit of those in senior positions speaking out about their own struggles.

“For example, one of our members is Lloyd’s banking group and the former CEO António Horta-Osório used to talk about mental health all the time, and it became part of the culture to talk about it,” she said.

The introduction of home-working during the pandemic also blurred the line between work and personal lives. Darbyshire said this meant that for many young people, there was “no clear indicator when the workday had ended” and clearer boundaries are needed.

“If a business wants to build back better – a phrase that’s been used by business groups and the government a lot recently – it’s not going to happen if our people aren’t health, if they are just coping instead of thriving,” she said.

“Legal obligation or not, businesses who don’t prioritise this are going to be left behind, they are not going to build back better because people are going to apply for the jobs that will support them. The main reason we should do this is that it’s the right thing to do. If you had an IT problem at work that meant your people weren’t happy, you’d fix it - so why not do this?”