Reactive mental health measures don’t cut it anymore (and they never did)

Beyond wanting to do the right thing by their business, employers have a responsibility to take care of their employees and to try to ensure some stability for both.

It’s now clear that the COVID-19 pandemic has created an immense amount of uncertainty, chaos, and overwhelming stress for the majority of people in their daily lives. Less obvious is how this has affected employees who are likely doing double, or even triple, duty between work and home life. Those lines have quickly become increasingly blurred. As a result, mental health, which has always been important, is now a priority for the workforce.

Most employers want to do their best to support their employees through this crisis — and people need that support. A recent study by Qualtrics and SAP of over 2,700 employees across more than 10 industries found that 75% of people feel more socially isolated, 67% of people report higher stress, 57% have greater anxiety, and 53% feel that they are more emotionally exhausted since the start of the pandemic. Let these numbers sink in for a moment. A lot of people are really feeling the burden of this pandemic — and often silently.