Depression and anxiety cost the global workplace an estimated $1 trillion in lost productivity every year, driven by 12 billion lost working days annually (WHO). Yet, many organizations still treat mental well-being as a nice-to-have in a benefits brochure instead of a strategic priority. While one in five working-age adults experiences mental health challenges (WHO), only one in four US employees strongly agrees that their employer cares about their well-being (Gallup). That disconnect has real consequences.
Workers who feel supported are 71% less likely to report burnout, 3x more likely to be engaged, and 69% less likely to be actively job-hunting. If you’re seeing higher attrition or lower engagement, your employees’ declining mental health might be the culprit.
Mental health surfaced as a top concern in Seramount’s recent conversations with CHROs about the future of work. Senior HR leaders consistently pointed to well-being as both a workforce necessity and a business imperative. That’s why we made mental health at work the central theme of our most recent Employee Voice Session (EVS).
Well-Being Is Top of Mind in the C-Suite
Employee Voice Sessions (EVSs) are virtual, anonymous focus groups that allow HR and Talent leaders to uncover real-time sentiment across the organization. Unlike traditional surveys or one-off town halls, EVSs use live facilitators to guide text-based conversations that create a psychologically safe space to surface honest insights and perspectives.
“Holding one Employee Voice Session is like conducting sixty one-on-one interviews at once. I’ve never seen another tool that can gather employee insights in such an engaging way.”
–Chief Culture Officer, Global Insurance Company
In our most recent EVS, HR and Talent leaders across industries discussed how mental health is shaping everything from absenteeism and burnout to retention, productivity, and workplace culture. While only one-third of participants said their well-being strategies were “very or extremely successful,” nearly all agreed: More must be done.
How Employers Are Meeting the Moment
EVS participants reported a significant increase in mental health requests over the past year. Seventy percent of people leaders observed increased requests for well-being support, 55% saw more accommodation requests, and 40% reported a surge in mental health leave requests (excluding short-term disability). They also shared that current efforts to encourage a healthy lifestyle, build awareness, and offer safe spaces for support seem to be working. More employees are using on-site wellness facilities, participating in financial wellness workshops, and taking advantage of mental health apps promoted by their teams.
What HR Leaders Are Seeing
Hover over the image below to see more EVS results about the future of mental health at work.
Leaders at hybrid and remote organizations emphasized how much scheduling and location flexibility reduces stress, with the caveat that intentional in-person connections help reduce isolation. One participant stated, “Burnout and psychological safety are increasingly front and center as we support our teams.” Other participants provide training to help managers create a positive team environment.
Some of the most commonly offered resources include:
Employee Assistance Programs (EAP)
Health and wellness programs
Volunteering initiatives
Flexible scheduling
Fitness resources
Employee resource groups (ERGs)
Financial wellness programs
Pulse surveys
Meditation (apps) and resources
Measuring What Matters
Companies making the biggest strides in workplace well-being aren’t just expanding their offerings—they’re tracking their impact. These companies know the “right” mix of programs will evolve with their changing talent needs. Most EVS participants agreed that the top KPIs, or key performance indicators, to measure employee well-being are employee turnover (80%), engagement scores (80%), EAP utilization (70%), absenteeism (50%), and program participation (40%). Other signals that your mental health programs are making progress can be found in:
Pulse survey results
Benefits utilization rates
Program participation
Employee feedback
Health care costs
ERG engagement
Manager effectiveness
The best way to measure how well you’re meeting employees’ needs is to ask directly—and make it safe to answer honestly. When employees know their input will lead to action, they’re more likely to share, giving HR the insights needed to course-correct or scale what’s working.
Mental health is one of the most urgent talent priorities of 2025. Forward-thinking HR leaders are embedding wellness practices into day-to-day operations, not just annual benefits reviews. It might be challenging, but it’s a vital step to create a resilient, high-performing organization in a time of rising burnout and complexity.
Want to know what’s working (and what’s missing) in your mental health strategy? Seramount’s Employee Voice Sessions go beyond surveys to help teams:
Uncover hidden stressors and burnout risks
Measure well-being program effectiveness
Diagnose root causes of disengagement
Co-create solutions that resonate across the organization
Join our next EVS for CHROs and Talent executives to share challenges, exchange ideas, and explore how other companies are tackling pressing workplace issues to help employees succeed.
Diana Forster is a Senior Director of Qualitative Research at Seramount. She is a survey researcher, statistician, and writer with experience delivering actionable research to government, corporate, and academic clients.
Diana Forster is a Senior Director of Qualitative Research at Seramount. She is a survey researcher, statistician, and writer with experience delivering actionable research to government, corporate, and academic clients.
In this role, she has helped lead several of Seramount’s recent projects: “Keeping DEI Strong in Volatile Times,” “Gen Z Decoded: New Data on How Your Youngest Employees Want to Experience Work,” “Understanding Global DEI Success: Corporate and Local Implications,” and “DEI Backlash: What Employees Really Think.” She joined Seramount in 2022 as an Associate Director on the Consulting team.
Previously, Diana was a researcher with the American Institutes for Research (AIR). There, she worked with the Department of Education on projects related to K-12 education. Diana was also a founder and vice-chair of Women in Support of Equity (WISE), AIR’s first employee resource group for women.
Prior to her time at AIR, Diana worked for eight years with the Center for Talent Innovation (now Coqual).
Diana holds a BA in political science and history from the College of Charleston, an MA in political science from the University of Arizona, and a PhD in political science from the University of Florida, where she used cutting-edge survey research techniques to study the intersections of religion and political behavior in the United States. A lifelong learner, she is currently pursuing her MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business as a Forté fellow. Diana lives in Bethesda, Maryland, and in her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing fiction, riding her Peloton, and going to the movies. She also volunteers as a dramaturg with local theatres.
