Money worries are surging as the cost-of-living crisis shows no sign of easing anytime soon, a poll has argued.
As a result, the number of employees feeling anxious or stressed at work is continuing to increase, with men in particular reporting heightened mental ill health.
The poll of 4,383 employees by Champion Health, who were surveyed during the course of 2023, concluded one in three people are now reporting they “never” or “rarely” feel relaxed.
While female professionals remained more likely to be experiencing symptoms of anxiety (68%), the number of men reporting at least mild stress symptoms had seen a rapid increase from 38% in 2022 to 60% in 2023, it said.
Money worries in particular were continuing to rise, and were now the leading cause of stress outside of work, cited by 41%, up from 37% last year. It was male workers, again, who are experiencing the brunt of this (42% compared with 36% of men last year).
Cost-of-living crisis
Financial wellbeing: An unspoken ‘privilege’ during the cost-of-living crisis
Women under more financial stress from cost-of-living crisis
The number of 16-24-year-olds experiencing negative stress at work had doubled since last year. This age group also cited financial pressures and money worries as a major cause of stress, an increase from 34% to 46%.
Worryingly, the prevalence of thoughts of suicide or self-harm had increased to 13%, up from 8% in 2021 and 9% in 2022.
A total of 40% of young people between the ages of 16-24 said they had experienced clinically-relevant symptoms of anxiety.
A similar percentage (38%) of people of all ages said they were experiencing unhelpful and/or negative levels of stress in the workplace.
More than half (53%) reported feeling down, depressed or even “hopeless”. Physical health symptoms had been increasing, too, with nearly two-thirds (64%) reporting eye strain, 46% tired eyes and 34% headaches during the working day, the report concluded.
Harry Bliss, chief executive of Champion Health, said: “It’s no surprise that the last few years have been extremely tough on employees. The fact that workers experiencing suicidal thoughts are continuing to rise year-on-year is distressing, and a 44% increase from last year is a statistic that cannot be ignored.
Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance
Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday
“The reality is that in a workforce of 1,000 staff, 130 will be having thoughts about taking their own lives, which could have a devastating impact,” he added.
