2020 has been the most stressful year ever for employees around the world, and people want robots to step in to help, according to a study by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence, a human resources (HR) research and advisory firm . The work, based on the responses of more than 12,000 employees (managers, HR leaders and executives) in 11 countries, found that COVID-19 has raised the levels of stress, anxiety and burnout of employees in their position work on a global scale, and that they prefer the help of robots to that of their peers.
COVID-19 has had a negative impact on the mental health of workers around the world, says the report, which also recounts how people from all corners of the planet are struggling with very high levels of anxiety and depression in the workplace. job. Thus, it is explained how 70 percent of people have had more stress and anxiety at work this year than any other, and this increase in stress and anxiety has had a negative impact on the mental health of 78 percent of those employees worldwide, causing more stress (38%), poor work-life balance (35%), burnout (25%), depression from not socializing (25%) and loneliness (14%). New pressures from the global pandemic have been superimposed on everyday stressors in the workplace, including pressure to meet performance standards (42%), manage routine and tedious tasks (41%), and juggle with unmanageable workloads (41%).
Mental health problems
The global pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems in the workplace and the impact is not limited to professional life, as people also feel the effects at home. 85% say that mental health problems at work (i.e. stress, anxiety and depression) affect their family life, and the most common repercussions were lack of sleep (40%), poor physical health (35% ), reduced happiness at home (33%), suffering in family relationships (30%), and isolation from friends (28%).
As the lines between the personal and professional worlds have increasingly blurred with people working remotely, 35% of individuals work more than 40 hours more each month, and 25% of people have been working remotely. exhausted from overwork. Despite the perceived drawbacks of telecommuting, 62% of people find telecommuting more attractive now than before the pandemic, and say they now have more time to spend with family (51%), sleep (31 %) and get the job done (30%.
Employees want help from robots
People want technology to support their mental health. Only 18 percent of people would prefer humans to robots to support their mental health, believing that robots offer a judgment-free space (34%), an unbiased response when problems are shared (30 %) and quick responses to health-related questions (29%). 68% of people would rather talk to a robot than their boss about stress and anxiety generated at work, and 80% of people are willing to have a robot as a therapist or counselor.
75% say artificial intelligence (AI) has helped their mental health at work. The main benefits observed were providing the information needed to do their jobs more effectively (31%), automate tasks and decrease workload to prevent burnout (27%) and reduce stress by helping to prioritize tasks (27 %). AI has also helped the majority (51%) of workers shorten their workweek and allowed them to take longer vacations (51%). More than half of those surveyed say that artificial intelligence technology increases employee productivity (63%), and improves job satisfaction (54%) and general well-being (52%).
Mental health at work
Employees globally look to their organizations for more mental health support, and if this help is not provided, it will have a profound impact on global productivity, as well as the personal and professional lives of workers around the world. 76% of people believe their company should do more to protect the mental health of its workforce. 51% indicated that their companies have incorporated mental health services or support as a result of COVID-19. 83% of the global workforce would like their company to provide technology to support their mental health, including self-service access to health resources (36%), on-demand counseling services (35%), monitoring tools proactive health (35%), access to wellness or meditation apps (35%) and chatbots to answer health-related questions (28%).
84 percent of workers have faced challenges while working remotely, the most important factors being not distinguishing between personal and professional life (41%) and dealing with greater mental health challenges such as stress and anxiety (33 %). 42% of people said that stress, anxiety or depression in the workplace causes their productivity to plummet and 40% said it leads to an increase in poor decision making. 85% said that work-related stress, anxiety and depression affect their family life.
