A fifth of Canadian employees are reporting an erosion of trust with their employer since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to LifeWorks Inc.’s latest mental-health index.
It found the top reasons for this decline in trust are a change in workplace culture (46 per cent), a perceived change in how employee well-being was handled by the employer (43 per cent) and changes in communication (30 per cent).
Read: Survey finds perceptions of workplace culture impacting employees’ mental health
The mental-health score for Canadians remained at 65.1, unchanged from the previous month. A third (32 per cent) of respondents had a high mental-health risk, while 42 per cent had a moderate risk and 16 per cent self-reported a mental-health condition or issue. A third (33 per cent) said their mental-health condition or issue worsened since the pandemic, with the mental health of this group more than 30 points below the national average.
Nearly half (45 per cent) of respondents attributed the decline in their mental health to having more personal stress, while 21 per cent cited isolation and 18 per cent said it was due to increased work stress. Notably, the report found women are three-times more likely than men to identify work stress as the reason for their mental-health decline.
More than a quarter (28 per cent) of Canadians reported feeling alone more often, with this group having a mental-health score more than 20 points below the national average. Employees aged 40 and younger were most likely to experience loneliness.
Read: Mental-health resources improving employee productivity, retention: survey
Mental health and well-being (14 per cent), manager relationship (12 per cent) and recognition (nine per cent) were cited as the most common factors negatively impacting employee productivity. Conversely, employees identified co-worker relationships (25 per cent) as having the most positive impact on their productivity.
More than a third (35 per cent) of employees said inflation is their leading cause of stress, followed by the ongoing pandemic (16 per cent) and potential job loss (eight per cent). Respondents who reported stress due to a possible job loss had the lowest mental-health score (51.1), 14 points below the national average.