Prevention, not intervention | It's a good thing workers are using EAPs, but we need to address why they have to

New figures from Zurich Corporate Risk paint a clear picture: anxiety and low mood accounted for 30% of all calls to the insurer’s helpline in 2024. Anxiety alone made up nearly one in five. 

On the surface, this might seem like a success story for employee assistance programmes (EAPs): people are clearly aware of them, willing to use them, and are getting support for personal issues. However, it’s also a worrying reflection of the state of workplace mental health.

It would be a mistake to see the high call volumes as purely a sign that systems are working. The fact that so many employees are struggling with anxiety, low mood, and relationship problems, all while trying to get their work done too, tells us something is off-kilter.

Mental health-related calls may be slightly down year-on-year in some categories, but overall, the picture remains bleak. A third of all calls were about emotional distress.