The cost of ignoring mental health in your tech company
Anastassia Murašina
The tech industry is known for being stressful, with extended hours and high pressure. The Covid crisis hasnot helped improve an already tricky situation, and today, the entire industry pays the price of poor company culture and lack of proper mental health support.
The State of Mental Health in Tech
The tech industry is definitely in the top 5 sectors with the highest rate of mental health issues. Even before COVID, a 2019 BIMA report showed that in the UK, a tech worker is 5 times more depressed than the average worker!
Other statistics are not much better:
Burnout: In 2022, the Yerboo burnout index showed that 2 in 5 Tech industry workers who answered the survey were at high risk of burnout, while 62% of respondents felt emotionally and physically drained by their jobs.
Stress and anxiety: the same BIMA report mentioned above shows that stress levels are 66% higher in the tech sector than in the rest of the UK workplaces, with 13% of respondents saying it affects their day-to-day lives through symptoms such as headaches, insomnia, etc.
Work-life balance: A 2024 review by Fullstack Academy shows that based on employees’ feedback(via Glassdoor), only 40% of big tech companies have a good or very good work-life balance.
Job insecurity and turnover: Turnover rates vary greatly depending on the country. Some research shows that the tech industry in the UK had a turnover rate above 18% in 2022, compared to“only” around 12% in 2020.
Data collection and analysis company Aura reports that in 2020, the tech sector started seeing an exponential increase in turnover rates compared to other industries.
https://blog.getaura.ai/tech-turnover-trends
The stigma around mental health is still very strong in many industries, especially in tech. Different research brings up different data between 13% and 30% of workers only being comfortable bringing up their mental health situation at work.
The Hidden Costs of Neglecting Mental Health
We’ve addressed this topic in several previous posts. Neglecting mental health in the workplace is never just neglecting mental health; it is also failing to look after the company’s health.
In its 2024 report on Mind Health, Axa shows how it translates in the day-to-day of the office:
70% of people suffering from stress/anxiety or other mental health issues are disengaging
while 38% are less involved in their work
35% are choosing remote work as a way to avoid being in the office
38% of young workers have gone on sick leave over the past 12 months due to their mental health
52% consider leaving – and that number increases to 67% when the workers are between 18 and 24 years old
Regarding the tech industry, the Jumar Tech survey 2024 shows that 34% of employees declare that their decision to stay in a company would be impacted by the availability of more mental health resources.
In 2024, in the UK, 33.7 million days of work were lost due to poor health, such as anxiety, stress, and depression. For these reasons, each person took, on average, 21.1 days off work in the year.
In 2023 only, AXA UK calculated a loss of £28bn attributed to burnout and mental health-related issues.
These astonishing numbers are for all industries and not for the tech industry only, but given the numbers we saw above about the high rate of mental illnesses in tech workers, it is easy to extrapolate that the cost for tech companies is enormous.
Despite such data, many employers still do not adequately care for their employees’ mental health.
The Business Case for Prioritizing Mental Health Initiatives
In the US in 2022, a study by Mental Health America found that 55% of adults with mental illness did not receive any treatment due to:
cost
accessibility
lack of mental health literacy
lack of time
Stigma
Fighting stigma and making mental health support more accessible are urgent initiatives, regardless of the industry. However, we note that companies are increasingly offering resources in that area. Up to 60% of companies now offer some“well-being” support, yet, for 58% of them, the satisfaction level of employees with the offering is low. Some of the employees do not even know about them or how to use them.
Beyond the apparent barriers, such as access and poor company culture, the problem seems to reside in the fact that while the support exists, it is poorly presented and/or promoted on onboarding and throughout the employee journey. The tools exist, it is about encouraging everyone to use them properly.
The tech industry is going through changes with artificial intelligence advancements impacting productivity and innovation.
More than ever, it is time for an industry that has always been known for its stressful environment to not only put in place efficient tools to support its employees but to guide them through the process correctly.
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Anastassia Murašina is a Consulting Psychologist specializing in mental health, with expertise in research and counseling. She is pursuing a PhD in Human Sexuality at the University of Porto, building on her advanced degrees in psychology from the University of Tartu.
Anastassia Murašina
mental well-being and coaching services 
