How can businesses beat the 'Blue Monday' blues?

Today is the saddest day of the year: Blue Monday. Statistically, the third Monday of the month is labelled as the saddest day of the year for employees.

However, research from Moorepay now suggests that most businesses are still unaware that their staff are suffering today and being ignorant towards the significance of it. Whilst the large majority (81%) of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) believe they aren't affected by the January blues, two-thirds (67%) of employees are currently fed up at work and lack motivation.

So, why are you feeling down today? Well, according to the data it’s a combination of many variants. Work-related stress is considered the primary reason for feeling demotivated by most employees (36%), followed by the long wait to pay day (17%) and the financial fallout of the Christmas celebrations (ten per cent). Almost half (46%) of all employees say they are likely to look for a new job in the next three months.

Alison Dodd, Managing Director at Moorepay, explains the reasoning behind these findings: “Our research has shown that there is a large disparity between how motivated businesses think their staff are and how employees actually feel. Businesses need to be conscious of the January blues and actively try to overcome it."