Mental Health Practices Are Changing in Work Places

A new report from Mind Share Partners, a non-profit changing the culture of workplace mental health, finds that there has been an increase in employees leaving jobs for mental health reasons, and companies are taking new steps to address employee’s mental health.

As a follow-up to the 2019 study, the new report shows that mental health challenges are increasing, with three-quarters of full-time U.S. workers reporting at least one symptom of a mental health condition in the past year, and over a third of symptoms cumulatively lasted five months to an entire year..

Of those who reported experiencing at least one symptom, at least 84% reported that at least one workplace factor had negatively contributed to their mental health. 

This issue led to about 50% of full-time U.S. workers leaving a previous role due to mental health reasons, which was specifically seen among Gen Z and Millennial respondents. 

Employers and employees are now beginning to normalize mental health discussions in the workplace, as 65% of respondents talked about their mental health with someone at work.

Companies have also started to invest more into workplace mental health, with a growth of 55% of companies offering paid time off, 41% offering mental health days, and 33% offering mental health training. 

The greatest growth has been in accommodations employers offer, which include a 550% increase in extended or more frequent breaks, and 300% increase for therapy during the workday. 

The investment is already paying off, as respondents indicated they are three times more likely to feel comfortable talking about mental health with an HR manager, 2.5 times more likely to stay at their company for more than two years, and 5.6 times more likely to trust their company and its leaders.