Two-fifths (38 per cent) of Canadian employees say they spend too much time working and half (52 per cent) of these respondents say they work more than 40 hours per week, according to Telus Health’s latest mental-health index.
The survey, which polled 3,000 employees, found the average mental-health score among Canadians in February was 63.2, down slightly from 63.5 in January.
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For nearly two years, the lowest mental-health sub-score continues to be anxiety (56.3), followed by isolation (60.1), depression (61.7), work productivity (61.8), optimism (65.4) and financial risk (65.8). General psychological health (70.7) continued to be the most favourable mental-health measure.
A third (35 per cent) of workers had a high mental-health risk, while 42 per cent had a moderate mental-health risk and 23 per cent had a low mental-health risk. The survey noted there has been a one per cent increase in high-risk workers and a two per cent increase in low-risk workers since the mental-health index was launched in April 2020.
Employees who said they spend too much time working had an average mental-health score of 56.6, while workers who said they’re satisfied with with the amount of time they have to spend on things they enjoy doing (57 per cent) reported an average score of 70.1.
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More than two-thirds (70 per cent) of employees reported a recent decline in work productivity, citing reasons such as feeling overwhelmed by the volume of work (14 per cent), personal issues (13 per cent), lack of purpose or interest in their work (11 per cent) and illness/physical health issues (10 per cent).
Workers who cited personal issues as the main reason for their productivity decline had an average mental-health score of 51.1, 12 points below the national average and more than 25 points lower than workers who didn’t report a productivity decline (76.4).
Nearly a quarter (23 per cent) of workers said they need better support from their manager and this group reported an average mental-health score of 55.8, nearly 15 points lower than workers who said they’re working at the best level they can (70.5).
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