Poor mental health remains the leading reason UK employees contact support helplines, with anxiety and low mood accounting for 30% of calls last year, according to new data from Zurich Corporate Risk.
According to the data, anxiety has been the most common issue for four years in a row, responsible for 19% of calls, while low mood accounted for 11%.
Meanwhile, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), mental health was the fifth most common reason for workplace absences in 2022, making up 7.9% of sick days. Earlier research from Zurich and Cebr estimated that poor mental health-related long-term leave costs the UK economy around £5.9 billion each year.
The report also found that relationship issues are adding to people’s stress. Calls about partners rose 16%, making it the third most common topic. General family concerns increased by 4%, with relationship-related issues accounting for 12% of total calls in 2024.
This year the most frequent helpline topics remain unchanged: anxiety, low mood, partner issues, and job-related concerns.
Helpline data shows a 14% rise in job-related concerns in 2024, moving employment issues from sixth to fourth place in just one year. Reports of workplace relationship problems rose sharply by 118%, while fears around redundancy drove a 39% increase in related calls, reflecting wider concerns as over a third of UK employers plan to reduce headcount or slow hiring, according to CIPD research.
Caring responsibilities are also becoming more prominent, with a 31% rise in calls about childcare and a 41% increase in eldercare-related concerns. These trends come amid high childcare costs, among the highest in the world, and projections of a rapidly aging population.
Calls linked to neurodiversity and diagnosed mental health conditions also continued to grow, rising by 13% and 44% respectively, reinforcing previous findings that half of neurodivergent adults have experienced discrimination during the recruitment process.
Zurich UK head of group risk Nick Homer says: “Our data shows that poor mental health is still the main reason employees are calling helplines, with anxiety the number one call category for the fourth year running. But we can see that other issues are emerging in response to labour market uncertainty and the rising costs of caring responsibilities.
“At a time when there are a multitude of issues impacting employees, it is more important than ever that employers offer proactive and preventative support. Our EAP offers guidance to individuals to help them resolve personal issues, which in turn supports their mental wellbeing and helps them to thrive at work.”
