Workers appreciate and seek mental health support in the workplace

A majority (81%) of survey respondents said that employers’ support for mental health will be an important consideration when they look for work in the future—including 30% of workers who strongly agreed that employer support for mental health will factor into their future job decisions. Given this insight, employers should consider mental health initiatives as a way to recruit and retain talent.

Employers can offer mental health support to their employees in different ways. When asked to select from a list of a dozen possible supports that they would like to see employers offer, flexible work hours was the most commonly chosen support (41% of workers), followed by a workplace culture that respects time off (34%), the ability to work remotely (33%), and a four-day work week (31%).

Many employees reported that their employers already offer some of these supports, such as flexible work schedules (46%) and remote work options (37%). Fewer reported that their employers already offer a culture where time off is respected (28%) or four-day work weeks (14%). Interestingly, less than a third (30%) reported that their employer offers health insurance with coverage for mental health and substance use disorders. However, of those who reported that their employer does offer such insurance, 93% reported that such insurance is an effective mental health support.

When such supports are offered, many employees consider them beneficial. For example, among those whose employers offer flexible work hours and the opportunity to work remotely, 95% reported that these are effective supports. Only 11% reported that their employer has people on-site who have received mental health training. But of those who reported their employer does offer this support, 94% considered this support effective, including 45% who said the support is very effective. Similarly, although only 28% reported that their employer offers a culture where time off is respected, 96% of those whose employers respect time off said that it is effective, and 63% called it very effective.

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Overall, employer-provided support for mental health has increased; 71% reported believing their employer is more concerned about the mental health of employees now than they were in the past. When asked specifically whether mental health and safety initiatives have gotten better compared with before the covid-19 pandemic, one-third (31%) said they had. The experience appears to be different depending on work context. About one-third of both office workers (34%) and customer service/client/patient services workers (32%) said it has gotten better compared with before the covid-19 pandemic, but only one-quarter of manual laborers (25%) reported the same. Further, those in customer service/client/patient services roles were more likely to say that mental health and safety initiatives have gotten worse (10%), compared with office workers (6%) and manual laborers (5%).

With the array of challenges and stresses that employees face at work, employers should look at opportunities to improve well-being and health—including the suggestions their own workers offer.

A majority of employees (71%) said they are worried that their compensation has not kept up with inflation. Further, nearly one-quarter (24%) reported that they do not feel they receive adequate compensation. The workers who do not feel they receive adequate compensation cited two main factors for feeling this way: Pay has not kept up with inflation (60%) and does not reflect all of the work they do (52%).

Those who are worried that their compensation has not kept up with inflation were also significantly more likely to report negative impacts of work on their psychological well-being than their counterparts. Nearly two in five of those worried their compensation has not kept up with inflation (39%) said their work environment has had a negative impact on their mental health compared with 21% of those who were not worried about compensation, and more than half of those who were worried about inflation’s impact on their compensation (54%) typically felt tense or stressed compared with 34% of those who were not worried.

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Employees who worried about their compensation not keeping pace with inflation not only were more likely to express work as having negative impacts on their mental health but also indicated openness to other opportunities. Around two in five of these workers said they intend to look for a new job (37% compared with 25% who were not worried) and were nearly twice as likely to say they have a desire to quit their job (21% vs. 12%).

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Compensation has long been a key driver for attracting and retaining talent. However, these results suggest that it may be more important now than ever for employers to keep a careful eye on compensation given our current environment of surging inflation.

More than half of employees (53%) said their employer uses computers, software, cameras, bar-code scanners, or other technologies to monitor them while they work, while 47% said that their employer does not monitor them (to their knowledge). Of those who reported knowing that they are monitored, about half (51%) said they felt uncomfortable with the way their employer uses technology to track them.

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Working in environments with electronic monitoring was also associated with a variety of mental health concerns. Employees who said they are monitored at work were more likely to report problems with emotional or psychological well-being at work. Six in 10 (60%) of those who said their employer monitors them also said that they typically feel tense or stressed during the workday, in comparison with fewer than four in 10 (35%) of those who said they are not, to their knowledge, monitored at work. Employees who said they are monitored at work were also more likely to report that their work environment has a negative impact on their mental health (45% vs. 22% of those who are not monitored).

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In addition, nearly one-quarter (23%) of those who said their employer monitors them consider their workplace experience somewhat or very toxic, compared with 13% of those who said their employer does not monitor them.

The use of monitoring technologies is not only associated with employees’ negative feelings about the workplace but also how they view their industry. More than half of employees who are monitored at work reported worrying about the future of their industry (51%). In contrast, less than one-third (31%) of those who said they are not monitored expressed concern for the future of their industry.

The data does not indicate whether such concerns and worries are due to monitoring or whether monitoring happens to be more prevalent in work environments where workers are more likely to express such concerns. Nonetheless, this data raises questions for employers who are electronically monitoring employees or considering doing so.

View a full-size version with detailed description of the other impacts of employer monitoring infographic

With recent heightened attention to issues related to race, sexual harassment, and gender, some employers have tried to cultivate more welcoming and inclusive workplaces. Based on the findings in this survey, companies with women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals in senior leadership roles were more likely to have equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policies, though whether an organization has such policies varied depending on the type of workplace.

Valuing equity helps diverse populations succeed and thrive. Diversity initiatives involve the representation or composition of various social identity groups in the workplace. Inclusion policies help ensure an environment that offers affirmation, celebration, and appreciation of different approaches, perspectives, and experiences.

Nearly two-thirds of workers at organizations with women (65%), racial and ethnic diversity (64%), or LGBTQ+ representation (66%) in senior leadership reported that their organization has diversity policies in place. These numbers were similar with regard to equity policies, which were reported by 67% of workers at organizations with women or racial and ethnic diversity in senior leadership, as well as 65% of those working for employers with LGBTQ+ representation in leadership positions. Comparable percentages of workers said their organizations have inclusion policies, with 65% of those whose employers have women or racial and ethnic diversity in senior leadership and 66% of those working for employers with LGBTQ+ representation reporting the presence of these policies in their workplace.

EDI policies are more commonly found in office settings than in manual labor workplaces. Compared with manual laborers, office workers were more likely to report their company has equity policies (61%) compared with manual laborers (49%), as well as diversity policies (60%) to (45%) and inclusion policies (60%) to (50%).

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Even when an office has EDI initiatives, workers questioned whether they make a difference in the workplace culture. Among those who reported that their company has EDI initiatives, nearly half (47%) felt the efforts are mostly for show.

This view of EDI policies was most common for employees between ages 26 and 43; three-fifths (60%) of workers in this age group said the efforts are mostly for show. More than half of 18- to 25-year-olds (53%) also said they think the efforts are mostly for show, with much smaller percentages of older groups feeling the same. The percentage dropped to 37% among workers between ages 44 and 57, dropped to 29% among those 58 to 64, and to 25% of those 65 and older.

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Overall, this data suggests that employers need to ensure that their EDI policies are meaningful, lead to measurable results, and are not merely “for show.”

Nearly one in five (18%) employees described their workplace as somewhat or very toxic. A toxic workplace was reported by 22% of employees in manual labor and 21% in customer service/client/patient services jobs, but a significantly lower percentage (15%) among those who have office jobs.

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Harm in the form of harassment, verbal abuse, or physical violence in the workplace—either by someone within their organization or outside of it—has been experienced by three in 10 workers (30%) within the last year. More than one in five employees (22%) said someone within their organization (such as a coworker or manager) or outside their organization had abused them verbally in the workplace.

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Many workers may not have experienced an abusive workplace but said they feel scared while at work. Black and Latino adults were more likely to say that they are often scared at work (29% for Black adults and 31% for Latino adults). Younger adults were also more likely to say that they are often scared when compared with adults ages 44 or older. A total of 38% of 18- to 25-year-olds and 32% of 26- to 43-year-olds reported feeling frightened at work compared with 17% of 44- to 57-year-olds, 10% of 58- to 64-year-olds, and 6% of workers age 65 and older.

While toxic and abusive workplaces are far from ubiquitous, this data suggests they remain too common, particularly in manual labor and customer service/client/patient services settings. This is an important issue for employers to monitor and address.

While 13% of all workers said they have been the target of discrimination (i.e., unequal treatment based on some aspect of identity such as race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability status, age, etc.) in their workplace, this number was higher for employees from marginalized populations.

More than one-quarter of workers with a disability (27%) said they have been the target of discrimination in their workplace, while fewer than one in 10 workers without a disability (8%) said the same. Discrimination was experienced by more LGBTQ+ workers than non-LGBTQ+ workers (22% vs. 12%), and Black workers were nearly twice as likely as White workers to report that they have experienced discrimination on the job (21% vs. 11%). Workers with children were more than twice as likely as workers who are not parents or caregivers to say they have been the target of discrimination (19% vs. 9%).

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Overall, this data shows that discrimination in the workplace unfortunately remains a serious issue, especially for those who are disabled, LGBTQ+, or Black.

The good news is that most Americans are very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their jobs. However, Americans feel different about their satisfaction at work depending on their workplace environment. While 91% of all workers said they are very or somewhat satisfied with their jobs, this feeling was more common among office workers (92%) than among those who do manual labor (86%).

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The survey also found variations in workers’ satisfaction across different demographics. For instance, a smaller percentage of LGBTQ+ workers (85%) reported being satisfied than non-LGBTQ+ workers (92%).

Respondents also varied in their satisfaction at work depending on socioeconomic, education, and workplace factors. A larger percentage of workers who have an annual household income of $50,000 or more (92%) reported that they are satisfied at work than those with an income under $50,000 (84%). Workers who have at least some post-high school education were more likely than those with a high school degree or less to feel satisfied at work (92% vs. 86%). And while most of those in upper-level roles (95%) were satisfied with their job, a smaller percentage of those in frontline positions (87%) said the same.

Similarly, those who work in an office were the most likely to say that changes related to work schedules are better today than they were prior to the pandemic (38% of office workers vs. 27% of manual laborers and 29% of customer service/client/patient services workers). One in 10 manual laborers (10%) said that work schedules are now worse, with a similar percentage of customer service/client/patient services workers saying the same (9%). Only 5% of office workers reported that current work schedules are worse than prepandemic.

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With the shift toward remote office work resulting from the pandemic, attention to the psychological well-being of office workers has increased. This data, however, suggests employers may need to do more to focus on the needs of those in manual labor and customer service/client/patient services roles.

Just as they are satisfied at work overall, employees reported satisfaction with specific aspects of their jobs. Work schedule—which includes factors such as the number of hours worked and flexible scheduling options—was cited by 86% of workers as a satisfying aspect of their work. A majority of workers also said they are satisfied with the opportunities to be innovative or creative in their work (84%), how well their workplace is preparing them for their industry’s future (84%), the communication they receive from their employer (83%), the mental health support their employer provides (81%), and opportunities for growth and development where they work (81%).

View a full-size version with detailed description of the factors in job satisfaction infographic

The research was conducted online in the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of APA among 2,016 adults aged 18+ who reside in the U.S. and are employed full-time, part-time, or self-employed. The survey was conducted April 22–May 2, 2022.

Data are weighted where necessary by age by gender, race/ethnicity, region, education, marital status, household size, work status, household income, and propensity to be online to bring them in line with their actual proportions in the population.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in our surveys. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within plus or minus 3.3 percentage points using a 95% confidence level. This credible interval will be wider among subsets of the surveyed population of interest.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to other multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including, but not limited to coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and postsurvey weighting and adjustments.