'Leaders must speak up' | Half of UK staff dealing with mental health challenges, or have previously experienced them

Despite conversations around mental health having now entered the mainstream, mental health issues continue to affect all parts of the UK workforce.

More than half of UK employees (55%) admit to either be dealing with ongoing mental health challenges at work or to have previously experienced them, according to new research released by The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health (GBC).

Mental health challenges are very much a mainstream experience for people in the workforce in the UK, across all types of roles – with blue (53%) and white (57%) collar workers likely to have faced or be facing them.

Across the generations, younger workers feel the strain the most, with both Gen Z (68%) and Millennials (60%) admitting that they are currently facing or have previously faced challenges related to their mental health. For older generations the numbers reporting are lower, but still significant – with Gen X at 52% and Boomers at 32%.