Psychological distress, burn-out… mental health remains the “blind spot” of companies. One employee out of two is today in a situation of psychological distress. One in four at risk of burnout. These figures, taken from the latest Human Footprint barometer, indicate a deterioration in the mental health of employees, largely linked to their working conditions. In the midst of the debate on pension reform, the French people’s relationship to work has changed… and companies are slow to meet their expectations.
The psychological health of employees is deteriorating. This is the conclusion of the traditional barometer produced by OpinionWay for Human Footprint. The firm thus notes that 44% of workers are today in a situation of psychological distress, i.e. almost one in two employees. An increase of three points compared to the last edition of this barometer published in June 2022. This phenomenon is all the more worrying since 14% of employees have a high rate of psychological distress, i.e. at least “36 months of high distress”.
“The situation is not improving”, tells Novethic Christophe Nguyen, president of Empreinte Humaine. Whose fault is it ? Partly to Covid-19, with a third of the employees surveyed believing that the health crisis is still impacting their level of fatigue today. But especially at work, for 74% of workers. Flagship index of this malaise: compared to the pre-Covid period, the risk of burnout is exploding. Nearly one in four employees, or 2 million people, claim to be at risk of burnout. A trend that particularly affects women (49%), young people (55%) and managers (44%).
Organization of work, a “breeding ground for burn-out”
France is even the country with one of the highest burn-out rates in Europe, according to an infographic published by Alternatives Économiques. “It will be necessary to observe absenteeism, sick leaves, turnover in the coming months. The economic, social and human costs are significant”, warns Christophe Nguyen. Proof of this is the explosion of long work stoppages.
Or, “it is the organization of work that is the breeding ground for burnout: the valorization of presenteeism, the increased surveillance of workers by digital technologies, the loss of autonomy in the face of increasingly strict procedures… Everything contributes to putting the employee under pressure, to breaking up collectives, to fueling interpersonal tensions.specifies the psychologist Marie Pezé on the site of the National Institute for Research and Security (INRS).
Are companies aware of this phenomenon which is spreading among their employees? Not really according to Christophe Nguyen, “mental health remains their blind spot”he says. “Companies have a legalistic approach to the subject. They do what the law requires of them. But we must go further”. In an inflationary context, after the confinements imposed by the Covid-19 health crisis, the challenge for companies is above all to catch up on their objectives. Even if it means ignoring the expectations of their employees. But they are in search of meaning.
The pension reform in question
In the midst of pension reform, the French people’s relationship to work therefore raises questions. Especially since according to Human Footprint, 6 out of 10 employees think that their psychological and physical state of health will not allow them to work until retirement. 9 out of 10 believe that working conditions need to be improved. “At a time when we are talking about raising the retirement age, we are not talking about work to make it more sustainable”, defends Christophe Nguyen.
And the expected efforts are great for companies. Sociologist Dominique Meda thus reminded Novethic last month of France’s particularly low ranking on working conditions. “The latest wave of the Eurofound survey, carried out in 2021 among more than 70,000 Europeans from 36 countries, shows that physical constraints are stronger in France than elsewhere”she pointed. “For more than 43% of French people, their job always, often, or sometimes involves moving heavy loads (compared to less than 30% in the Netherlands and 35% in Europe).” Hence the presence, in the demonstrations against the pension reform, of arduous professions such as garbage collectors, cashiers or nurses.