COVID-19 blurred the lines between our personal and professional lives in a way that has left many employees on the verge of burnout. As a result, organizations around the world are making employee health and wellbeing one of their top priorities for 2021.
The proportion of employee comments concerning wellbeing increased 46% in 2020 from the previous year, with over 75% referencing mental and financial health. And even though 96% of companies have provided additional mental health resources,only one in six employees feel supported.
In response to these challenges, we’ve analyzed over 150 million employee survey responses and 30 million employee comments, to produce ourGlobal Health and Wellbeing Report 2021.
It’s clear that “business as usual” is no longer enough to meet the health and wellbeing needs of employees. Organizations need to address the current fatigue and anxiety caused by the pandemic, and find a more agile way of providing health and wellbeing support to their people.
Employee Needs May Differ
The challenge of addressing employee health and wellbeing needs is that they can differ based on any number of variables, including demographics, geographical location, industry, and more.
For example, 17% of comments concerning mental health in the education sector (one in six) mentioned some kind of communication tool, such as Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Skype, which varies considerably from the concerns of those in the transportation sector.
Employees in one industry might need more support adjusting to remote work, whereas others may need support to deal with the increased pressures of their job, or better safeguards to protect their physical health.