Mental Health in Indian Workplaces: Employers Must Step Up

Even as the workforce slowly recovers from the post-pandemic blues, massive layoffs are stressing an already stretched workforce. The sudden and massive layoffs have once again thrust many employees into a state of financial insecurity and uncertainty, further exacerbating the challenges they face.

An X-Leap Research report says nine out of 10 people are reporting early signs of mental health issues. In addition, according to Deloitte’s 2022 survey titled, “Mental health and well-being in the workplace,” 80% of the Indian workforce has reported mental health issues in the previous year. Research shows that a person’s stress level is five out of ten when employed, but can rise to eight or higher when healthy coping mechanisms are compromised.

Consequently, mental health awareness is one of the latest trends in workplaces after the pandemic revealed its significance. Yesterday, Lissun, an Indian mental health platform conducted a mental health awareness camp for students in Kota, Rajasthan to address the escalating mental health concerns among students of engineering and medical preparation.

In March, WinZO, an Indian social gaming platform, tied up with Amaha, a tech-led omnichannel mental health platform to provide WinZO’s employees with access to mental health consultants and online counselling and therapy services, as well as to organise workshops to improve their understanding of user behaviour and build better products for its users.

If you are innovating, you need to perceive the environment you operate in as psychologically safe

Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder, WinZO

“If you are innovating, you need to perceive the environment you operate in as psychologically safe. A startup in itself is challenging because you are swimming against current. Lastly, we want our teams to understand this for themselves and for the consumer – an insight into feelings can be hugely enabling,” says Saumya Singh Rathore, co-founder, WinZO and a Masters in psychology.

“The world post covid era has been very challenging to most. The world outside had survival threats to self and loved ones. The norms of society changed every few weeks and many of us were isolated, a way of life we are not used to. This only followed with many businesses going through an unstable cycle and layoffs everywhere,” she adds.

Employers Must Step Up

The state of the Indian employee has room for improvement. According to a report from Plum, an employee health insurance platform, Indian employers are falling short in offering comprehensive benefits; only 5% of Indian organisations offer comprehensive insurance coverage.

Also, only 56% of Indian organisations offer maternity benefits to their female employees, with just 14% of them having a maternity limit greater than INR 50,000. Moreover, less than 2% of Indian companies offer OPD coverage with insurance. The uptick is telehealth consultation, which is the most popular at a 42% adoption rate.

Employers are beginning to recognize the importance of mental health in the workplace, and initiatives such as mental health awareness camps and access to mental health consultants are becoming more common.

As we move forward, it is crucial that employers prioritize the mental health and well-being of their workforce to help them cope with the ongoing challenges and build a healthier, more resilient workforce for the future.