Deeply marked by the global VIDOC-19 pandemic, the year 2020 is considered by employees to be the most stressful year in history. Anxiety, fatigue, negative repercussions on mental health but also on private life, artificial intelligence, robots, the future, these are the themes at the heart of the study conducted by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, a Human Resources research and consulting firm, among 12,000 employees, executives, human resources managers and executives from 11 countries, including France.
The year 2020 is perceived as the most stressful year in history by employees around the world and many would be willing to rely on the support of robots. This is one of the key findings of the new Oracle and Workplace Intelligence study. It also reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought stress, anxiety and burnout around the world, with technology being the preferred method of seeking help.
Whereas in 2019, only 8% of employees in France were enthusiastic about the idea of using AI, today 68% are open to the idea of using a robot to listen to them or follow a therapy!
Evidence that the COVID-19 pandemic has really shaken up the mindset in a short period of time…
“Between the new reality of work and work-life imbalance, COVID-19’s assessment of our mental health is significant – and it’s an issue that workers in all sectors and countries are facing,” says Dan Schawbel, managing partner of Workplace Intelligence.
“The pandemic has put mental health at the forefront of the workplace today and will continue to be one of the major workplace concerns for the next decade. The results of our study show how pervasive this problem has become and why it’s time for organizations to start talking about it and exploring new solutions.
In France, 75% of employees say that the pandemic has had a negative impact on their mental health.
Globally, the mental health of employees around the world is deteriorating as a result of the pandemic. More than ever before, employees are facing significantly higher than usual levels of anxiety and depression as a result of VIDOC-19.
- 71% of French people say they have experienced more stress and anxiety at work this year than in previous years (70% worldwide).
- The pandemic has adversely affected the mental health of 78% of the world’s working population (75% in France). The changes in the world of work to which employees have been forced to adapt at short notice have led to increased stress (38%), work-life imbalance (35%), burnout (25%), depression due to lack of socialisation (25%) and loneliness (14%).
- The new pressures of the global pandemic have combined with daily stressors in the workplace such as pressure to meet performance targets (42%), managing routine and tedious tasks (41% ) and juggling unmanageable workloads (41%).
While French employees can identify with these global averages, German employees appear to have been less affected, with only 52% reporting higher levels of stress and anxiety at work, with Indian employees sharing the highest rates (84%).
86% of employees in France say that mental health problems at work have a negative impact on their personal life.
The global pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems in the workplace, but the impact is not limited to working life; the consequences extend to the personal lives of employees.
- 86% of French respondents say that mental health problems at work, such as stress, anxiety or depression, affect their private life (85% worldwide). And it is the younger generation (22-25 years old) who seem to suffer the most, with 94% sharing this feeling.
- The main repercussions are lack of sleep (40%), deteriorated physical health (35%), a worsening sense of happiness at home (33%), complicated family relationships (30%) and a form of social isolation (28%).
- With the spread of telework, the boundaries between the personal and professional spheres are becoming increasingly blurred, with 35% of respondents overall saying that they work 40 hours more each month (29% in France) and 25% saying that they feel overworked (27% in France).
- Despite the drawbacks attributable to teleworking, 62% of respondents worldwide and 64% in France believe that this mode of working is more attractive now than before the pandemic. Overall, they say they can devote more time to their family (51%), sleep (31%) and work (30%).
Employees need help and prefer to seek support from technology rather than ask their manager for help… but this trend is not everywhere.
Employees expect more from technology than just the provision of collaborative tools; they want to be able to rely on technology to alleviate their mental health.
- Only 18% of respondents worldwide would turn to their managers rather than robots to maintain their mental health because they believe that robots cannot show judgment (34%), are a way to share problems impartially (30% ) and are able to provide quick answers to health questions (29%).
- 68% of respondents would prefer to talk about their stress and anxiety problems at work to a robot rather than to their manager (60% in France) and 80% are in favour of having a robot as a therapist or counsellor. In France this trend is less obvious but 68% would still be in favour of it. It is in China where it is much more marked because 97% share this point of view.
- 75% say that artificial intelligence has contributed to improve their mental health at work. It would enable them to have the information they need to work more efficiently (31% overall versus only 19% in France), to automate certain tasks and reduce the workload to prevent the risk of overwork (27% overall versus 24% in France) and 27% consider that AI can help reduce their stress by helping them prioritize their tasks (versus 19% in France).
- Artificial intelligence has already enabled half of the employees to shorten their working week and take longer holidays (51% overall – 35% in France). More than half of respondents say that artificial intelligence increases employee productivity (63% overall – 45% in France), contributes to improved job satisfaction (54% overall – 37% in France) and improves general well-being (52% overall – 37% in France).
Mental health problems in the workplace will continue to exist and should not be ignored.
Around the world, employees want companies to do more to address mental health issues in the workplace. If this support is lacking, then it may well have an impact on overall productivity and on the personal and professional lives of employees. In addition, the period of confinement also demonstrated that the use of technology (videoconferencing, online sports activities, applications etc.) offered a way out in a particularly stressful period.
- 76% believe that their company should do more to preserve the mental health of employees, a feeling shared by 69% of employees in France. 51% indicated that their company had set up dedicated services or some form of mental health support following the COVID-19 pandemic (42% in France).
- 83% of employees worldwide would like their company to make available the technologies needed to support their mental health (77% in France ), such as self-service access to health resources (36%), on-demand consulting services (35%), proactive health monitoring tools (35%), access to applications dedicated to well-being and meditation (35%) and chatbots to answer health questions (28%).
- 84% of employees say they have encountered difficulties caused by teleworking such as work-life imbalance (41% on average – 45% in France) and mental health impacts such as stress and anxiety (33% on average, 27% in France).
- 42% say that stress, anxiety and depression reduce their productivity and 40% say it leads them to make bad decisions.
“With the global pandemic, mental health has become not only a problem for society at large, but also a major challenge in the workplace. It has a profound impact on individual performance, team effectiveness and organisational productivity. Now, more than ever, it’s a conversation that needs to take place and employees are looking to employers to take the lead in providing solutions,” said Emily He, senior vice president, Oracle Cloud HCM.
“There is much to be done to support the mental health of employees around the world and technologies like AI can help. But first, organizations need to make mental health a priority. If we can get these debates going, both at the HR and directorate levels, we can begin to make changes. And now is the time to get started.
Methodology
The results are from a study conducted by Savanta, Inc. between July 16 and August 4, 2020. To conduct the survey, 12,347 people worldwide (in the United States, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, France, Italy, Germany, India, Japan, China, Brazil and Korea) were interviewed on general questions to understand the attitudes of managers and employees to mental health and the role of artificial intelligence, PDAs, chatbots and robots in the world of work.
The study targeted people between the ages of 22 and 74. Respondents were recruited through a variety of mechanisms and sources to join panels and participate in market research. All panelists went through a double opt-in process and filled in an average of 300 profiling parameters before participating in the surveys. Respondents were invited to participate by email and received a financial incentive to encourage them to respond. The results of each sample are subject to sampling variations.
The magnitude of the variation is measurable and depends on the number of interviews and the level of percentage expressing results. In this study, there is a 95% chance that a survey result will not vary, in addition or in months, by more than 0.9 percentage points from the result that would have been obtained if interviews had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by the sample.
