C-Suite suffers most from mental health issues

Global research looking into mental health and resilience has found it is the C-suite that is suffering the most – although all employees say they want their company to do more to support them.

Data compiled by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence revealed 53% of executives are struggling with mental health issues, compared to 45% in the wider workforce.

The study also found it was the C-suite that were finding it most difficult to adapt to the virtual way of working (85%) caused by Covid-19 (Coronavirus).

Three-quarters (76%) of people felt their company should be doing more to protect their mental health, with 86% wanting their employer to provide better technology as part of this support.

“The pandemic is putting employee mental health in the global spotlight,” said Emily He, senior vice president at Oracle. “These findings reveal burnout, stress and other mental health issues are all too easy to emerge and that Improving the mental health of employees needs to be a priority for every business.”

Countries where workers were found to suffer most from mental health issues were India (89%), UAE (86%), China (83%) and the US (81%).

Overall, Generation Z workers were found to be most likely to be negatively impacted by the pandemic than any other generation.

Some 90% Gen Z workers said Coronavirus had negatively impacted their mental health, while 94% said workplace stress impacted their home life as well.

Gen Z workers were also found to be two times more likely than Baby Boomers to be working longer hours, while millennials were 130% more likely to have experienced burnout than Baby Boomers.

Commenting on the findings, Dan Schawbel, managing partner at Workplace Intelligence, said: “There is an urgency for companies to start protecting the mental health of their employees. The efforts they put in now will continue to create happier, healthier and more engaged workforces in the decades to come.”