BUSINESS: Research + Stats Employee Well-Being Tops Reasons for Return to Work Hesitancy By Staff Friday, September 16, 2022 6:04 PM Employers need to address employee well-being if they want to hold onto staff, according to a finding in a recent report from McKinsey & Company. After nearly three years of an unstable work environment, employees are more concerned than ever about ensuring their health and safety as they return to the office. Since 2020 McKinsey has been evaluating the disconnect between employers and employees over mental health. At the time, 66 percent of employers believed they were supporting their employees' mental health very well. Meanwhile, only 51 percent of employees shared this sentiment. Their research found that many employees were avoiding getting treatment for mental health problems out of fear of employers finding out. In this area, there also remained a gap between what employers felt they were doing right versus how employees felt about the support system available to them. Of the surveys respondents, 80 percent of full-time employees believed that an anti stigma or awareness program would help make it easier to seek help, however, only 23 percent of employers had indicated they had implemented this type of program. The group's findings indicate that employees are not ready mentally to return to work. Nearly 49 percent of respondents anticipates that returning to work will have a somewhat or significant impact on their mental health. Employees are also concerned about catching COVID-19 and spreading it to family members, with many employees requesting hybrid working options to help mitigate this risk.