Mental wellbeing at work is now top of the HR agenda in many private and public organisations, with the Office of National Statistics highlighting that stress, anxiety and depression is costing the UK economy 15.2 million sick days, with presenteeism (workers turning up to work ill or job dissatisfied but contributing little-added value in terms of their performance) estimated as twice as costly as absenteeism.
The OECD calculated that mental ill health costs the UK economy £70 billion per year, equivalent to 4.5% of GDP. These health and economic costs, together with the UK seventh in the G7 and 17th in the G20 countries in productivity per capita, make a clear human and financial case for businesses doing something about mental wellbeing. This is not just a problem in the UK, but in most developed countries, although the sources of a lack of wellbeing may be different.
