Google, Delta Airlines, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Bell, Microsoft, Unilever… many major companies are now offering mental-health support to their employees. Some provide free consultations with a psychologist, while others grant extra – and paid – days off to those who feel the need to take a mental break.

American companies like AT&T go even further, hosting therapists on their premises. In 2020, the American telecommunications giant opened a health and wellness centre in Dallas, Texas, where its global headquarters are based.

Every month, almost 1,000 of the group’s employees visit the clinic: its resident psychologist has already received 17,000 visits in three years, a figure that continues to rise month on month. (What this implies about the workplace is another matter.)

Numerous reports agree that, all over the world, morale among the working population is at an all-time low. This phenomenon is particularly marked in the United States, where one in three working people says their work takes a toll on their mental health, according to a recent survey.

It’s hardly surprising, then, that employers and human resources managers are stepping up their initiatives to bolster the wellbeing of their employees – all the more so since two-thirds of US employees believe firms should help them better manage stress and anxiety, according to research conducted last year.

Still, it’s not always easy to talk about mental health in a professional setting, even with a specialist. Communications agency Havas has experienced this first-hand: “The feedback we had is that people feel uncomfortable having a therapist on-site. There are issues around confidentiality,” its London branch told the Financial Times in March.

In short, employees feel uncomfortable talking about their psychological difficulties in the workplace. Many fear that they will be frowned upon by colleagues and/or managers if they broach the subject openly.

In the United Kingdom, 28% of workers believe their mental-health problems could be detrimental to their career progress if their employer knew about them.

And therein lies the difficulty: mental health is all too often a taboo subject in the workplace, even though companies suffer enormously as a result. Disorders such as stress, burnout, depression and anxiety are the third most-cited reason for sick leave in France, behind common ailments such as colds, flu, and even Covid.

Even so, some employers are reluctant to take steps to ensure the mental wellbeing of their teams. While some feel it is not their legal responsibility, others fear the economic cost of addressing the issue.

Indeed, a study by the US National Safety Council and the University of Chicago claims that companies spend an average of US$15,000 (RM72,000) a year on each employee who experiences mental-health issues.

However, the same study says firms that choose to support workers’ mental health obtain a return on investment of US$4 for every US$1 spent.