Young adults across the UK “face pressures both inside and outside of work”, with almost two in five taking time off work last year due to poor mental health exacerbated by stress.
The figures come from a new survey in which more than 90 per cent of people reported experiencing high or extreme levels of stress.
The chief executive of Mental Health UK warned that trying to boost the economy without tackling chronic stress in the workplace is like “trying to accelerate with the handbrake on”.
The charity is urging organizations to “move faster” to equip managers to start conversations about mental health, with the aim of preventing staff burnout and preventing them from being “pushed out of work”.
The findings of Mental Health UK's latest Burnout Report are based on a YouGov survey of more than 4,500 people, including 2,591 workers.
The NHS describes burnout as “a state of physical and emotional exhaustion” caused by constant pressure at work.
The survey found that more than nine in 10 (91 percent) people experienced high or extreme levels of stress in the past year.
One in five (20 percent) workers took time off due to mental health problems caused by stress, a similar level to last year's report.
People aged 25 to 34 were most likely to experience high or extreme levels of stress (96 percent), surpassing those aged 35 to 44.
However, the report suggests that young adults aged 18 to 24 “continue to face significant stress in the workplace.”
Around 93 per cent said they had experienced high or extreme levels of pressure and stress in the last year, and almost two in five (39 per cent) took time off due to poor mental health, up 3 per cent on the previous 12 months.
Almost half of people in this age group (45 percent) said in the survey that feeling isolated at work had contributed to their problems, along with other factors such as fear of dismissal (43 percent) and high workloads (57 percent).
Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of 18- to 24-year-olds reported having sleep problems and financial problems (64 percent), and 60 percent said they felt isolated outside of work.
Brian Dow, chief executive of Mental Health UK, warned that burnout is “fast becoming one of the UK's most serious shared challenges”.
He said: “We all want a thriving economy that benefits both employers and workers, but unless we tackle chronic stress in the workplace and help people perform at their best, we are actually trying to accelerate with the handbrake on.
“This year’s report highlights continuing concerns about high levels of absence among younger workers.
“This group faces pressures both inside and outside of work, along with an uncertain job market where AI is increasingly seen as a threat to some entry-level roles. For many, the social contract that rewarded previous generations for their hard work is breaking down.
“While young people are often seen as championing better attitudes towards mental health at work, our survey shows that many are silent about their own stress levels.
“Our workplace training team reports that young people value regular check-ins on workload and wellbeing, when managers create the right environment for discussion.”
Of those who took time off work due to stress, more than a quarter (27 percent) said they received no support when they returned to work, and fewer than one in five (17 percent) had a formal return-to-work plan in place.
About 18 per cent of workers said in the survey that they feel mental health is treated as a “box-ticking exercise”, while one in 10 said mental health is not prioritized at all.
For the first time, the survey asked women if menopausal symptoms were a contributing factor to burnout.
More than two-thirds of women (68 percent) aged 45 to 54 agreed, along with more than a third (35 percent) of those aged 35 to 44, and more than a quarter (27 percent) of those aged 55 and over.
Dow added that “employers play a vital role in helping people stay at work,” but managers “often feel unsure about starting conversations about stress and mental health.”
He added: “If we want to see a thriving workforce, organizations must act faster to help managers act early, before stress and poor mental health turn into burnout and people are forced out of work.”
