Mental Health Related Leaves-Of-Absence Up 300% Since 2017

New research shows that mental health and happiness will continue to decline in 2024. National Institute of Mental HealthBy 2023, one in five Americans (57.8 million in 2021) will be living with some kind of mental illness, ranging from mild to moderate to severe anxiety or depression. anxiety With 42.5 million Americans suffering from the condition, it is the most commonly reported mental illness in the U.S. Several studies have shown that by 2024, there will be an increase in burnout, worsening mental health conditions, and a sharp increase in mental health absences.

Lyra Health 2024 State of Workforce Mental Health Report Nearly four years after the COVID-19 outbreak, employees are now faced with the daunting challenge of balancing their work and personal lives while dealing with the aftermath of the global crisis, according to the report. With growing stressors including inflation, mass layoffs and feelings of helplessness due to international wars and climate-related disasters, employees need more support, the report concludes.

Study #1 Job Burnout

According to LinkedIn Employee Confidence SurveyFour in 10 U.S. workers say they feel burned out at work, with the report showing that project managers have even higher burnout rates than those working in the health and social care fields, with half of workers in those professions saying they experience burnout, often caused by overwhelming workplace stress that has no solution.

Additionally, findings show that on-site workers are more likely to experience burnout than hybrid or remote workers, and employees at large companies are more likely to experience burnout than employees at small and medium-sized companies. Younger workers are more likely to experience burnout than their older colleagues, and women are more likely to report burnout than their male colleagues.

Study 2: Workplace Toxicity

Businesssolver’s 2024 Empathy Survey We surveyed over 3,000 employees and revealed how persistent bias and workplace toxicity are exacerbating the ongoing mental health crisis in today’s workplaces. Research shows that CEOs are burning out along with their employees. A staggering 55% of CEOs and 50% of employees have experienced a mental health issue in the past year. Additionally, 65% of Gen Z have experienced a mental health issue in the past year. The survey found that on average, 35% of employees and 52% of CEOs consider their company’s culture to be toxic.

Employees who report a toxic workplace are 47% more likely to cite mental health issues. Similarly, there are stigmas in employee and CEO views of mental health in the workplace that contribute to a toxic workplace, as well as potential psychological safety issues that prevent employees from showing empathy among their colleagues.

The longer stigma around empathy and mental health in the workplace persists, the more severe the impact on business performance and talent retention will be, according to the report.

• 88% say they would stay with an organization if it was sympathetic to their needs.
• 70% believe a company’s financial performance is linked to its empathy.
• 65% of people say it would be easy to find a new job if they left their current organization.
• 52% say they would be willing to accept a small pay decrease if they had a more sympathetic employer.

Study 3: Mental health-related absences surge

ComPsychthe largest provider of employee mental health and absence management services, released new data showing that mental health-related leave of absence continues to soar among the U.S. workforce. From 2017 to 2023, mental health-related leave of absence increased 300%. In 2023 alone, mental health-related leave of absence increased 33% over the previous year. In 2023, women took nearly seven in 10 mental health-related leave of absences (69%). Millennial women accounted for one-third (33%) of mental health-related leave of absences in 2023, while Gen X women accounted for 30%.

More than one in 10 (11%) absences were due to mental health, representing a 22% increase in mental health absences compared to the first quarter of 2023. dataThis trend is being driven by female workers: in 2023, women accounted for 69% of mental health leave, and in the first quarter of 2024, that number will increase even more. 71%. In the first quarter of 2024, the number of Americans who took time off work for mental health reasons exceeded the number of people who took time off work for accidents, cancer, COVID-19, heart disease, or heart attacks combined.

“Our data shows that millennial and Gen X women are the most likely to need mental health-related time off,” said Richard A. Chaifetz, founder, CEO and chairman of ComPsych. “HR teams need to invest in resources and programs relevant to the issues these age groups commonly face, including the pressures of managing a team, the stress of buying a first-time home, returning to the workplace as a new parent and worries about caring for elderly relatives.”

Chaifetz concludes: “As leaders in the integration of mental health and absence management, we have a unique perspective on how these two areas intersect. It’s clear that proactively investing in employee mental health is a key strategy for HR teams looking to mitigate the costs and impacts of employee absence.”