Apr 14, 2023
The taboo around mental health has been steadily decreasing, largely due to the hard work and dedication of activists, educators, and employees themselves. As a result, mental health and well-being were major talking points in 2022 and have become top priorities for benefits providers and HR leaders.
To monitor the mental and overall health of Americans, Guardian created the Workforce Well-Being Index™ in 2016. The index measures the self-reported well-being of working adults.
According to this index in 2022, the prevalence of mental illness remains high, especially following the pressures and social isolation of the coronavirus lockdowns. In fact, 21% of adults (over 52 million) experience mental health issues every year. This is an increase of 1.5 million individuals since 2019. Plus, the percentage of total disability claims for mental health in the past decade increased from 7% to 14%.
Plus, the report concluded that COVID-19 (50%) and financial worries (46%) were the two leading causes of stress and negative mental health in employees' lives.
Consequently, the pandemic caused 48% of employers to focus on employees’ mental health in the workplace. This is significantly higher than in previous years.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has caused a dramatic increase in employee attrition, especially with younger employees who struggle the most with poor mental health outcomes. This overall trend has been commonly called “The Great Resignation”.
As a result, more employers are recognizing that if they want to attract and retain the best talent, they need to demonstrate that they care about their employees’ mental health and well-being.
Furthermore, due to different needs among different generations, a one-size-fits-all approach likely won’t work – it will be much more effective to offer employees a benefits package that is tailored to their specific needs, including any ancillary benefits.
Contact your Amwins Connect Sales Representative to learn more. Your Sales Representative can assist you in creating benefit solutions that will meet your specific needs.
