Giving employees access to mental health support isn’t just the right thing to do — it’s also commercially critical. The case for investing in employees' mental health by providing them with access to support has grown glaringly obvious.
In 2024, mental health issues cost an employer an estimated £1,230 per employee per annum in an average office-based environment. So, in a 100-person company, mental health issues would be costing an estimated £123,000 per annum.
This calculation is based on data analysis* conducted by employee wellbeing partner, Kara Connect.
The measurable costs are based on:
- Staff absences
- Workplace burnout
- Productive days lost
- Undesired attrition
For younger employees (Gen Z), mental healthcare is considerably more important than having standard healthcare as a benefit, partially because they have higher levels of self-awareness and are especially attuned and responsive to the unpredictability and stresses of our modern world. It’s fair to say that employees in their twenties are less likely to get use out of private healthcare as a benefit, but that they’re much more likely to need, and value, mental healthcare.
If employers are willing to pay significant amounts for private healthcare for their employees, why wouldn’t they pay even one eighth of that amount for proper mental wellbeing support that their employees are actually going to use?
At Kara Connect we provide service in over 60 specialist areas from mental health to menopause, from fertility to finance, from conflict resolution to career coaching, in 30+ languages. With usage rates at 6 times higher than industry average, and 4.9/5 customer satisfaction rate, our clients and their employees finally have a solution that works.
*Calc based on 3 days absent per year avg (Deloitte and UK Govt). Estimated 28% absence primarily due to poor wellbeing (Deloitte & UK Govt). Average attrition rate of 13.8% (Cendex UK), 50% of which is due to poor wellbeing (Vitality). Cost of lost productivity due to burnout = 1.8x cost of absenteeism (Salisbury Centre)