The impact of Covid on the mental health of employees has an economic cost too. A report by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India LLP (DTTILLP) has revealed that employee stress and fatigue leading to attrition has cost India Inc. $14 billion.
The Business Insider quoted the ‘Mental health and well-being in the workplace’ report and noted that at least 80% of the Indian workforce underwent mental health issues in the last year. The stress has cost organizations ₹1.1 lakh crore or $14 billion.
The report added a breakup of the amount: ₹14,000 crore as the cost of absenteeism, alongside presenteeism, which cost ₹51,000 crore, and employee turnover amounted to ₹45,000 crore.
Absenteeism linked to leaves taken for mental health saw at least 29% of them seeking offs to deal with workplace-related stressors. Presenteeism is when employees report to work under stress, leading to low productivity.
Quoting the report, it added, “These costs build up over time and are incurred when poor mental health impacts how individuals deal with day-to-day stressors and are unable to thrive in their work environment.”
Figures related to mental health issues revealed that the employees in the IT sector were the most stressed at 61%, followed by those in consulting and banking, and financial services. The IT industry also had a whopping 22% of attrition rate, the highest among different industries.
