Uncertainty, layoff fears raise tech pros’ stress, anxiety levels

Fatigue due to overworking, anxiety of getting laid off, worry about performance, pressure to perform, and overall career concerns in a tepid job market are a few of the stress triggers prevalent now across India Inc employees that rose significantly over the last month or so, according to mental wellbeing experts.

Read More: How Indians are future-proofing careers in 2023

Plum, an employee health insurance platform, has observed a 4x increase in telehealth consultations over the last seven months for issues pertaining to employees’ mental health. Over 77% of these consultations came from young adults aged 21 and 30, followed by 17% from millennials aged 31 and 40.

According to 1to1help, an employee assistance provider, counselling sessions regarding work related concerns are up from 577 in October 2022 to 663 in December 2022 coinciding with the series of global layoffs announcements. As of January 23, total work-related sessions are at 435 with another week to go, according to 1to1help internal data shared exclusively with ET.

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“With more companies announcing layoffs, we are seeing a constant rise in employees approaching us for consultations/sessions,” said Sanjana Khare, specialist counsellor, 1to1help.net.

ET spoke with Ashish (name changed) a graduate from a leading engineering college in Nagpur, who lost his job last month. He said it is not just a loss of monthly pay cheque but also about relationships built over time at the workplace.

“For most people who are laid off, a job is more than just an income stream,” he told ET. Especially for those who are away from families and are living in a different city, a job loss can take a toll on mental health for the lack of family support.

Also Read: Big Tech is firing employees by the thousands. Why? And how worried should we be?

Changing work models, from WFH to hybrid to possibly being back full-time to the office, is already a source of stress, according to Mohinish Sinha, partner, Human Capital Consulting, Deloitte India.

“Professionals are therefore bound to have added concerns about building their careers and future if there are headwinds that their organisation or industry is facing,” said Sinha.

Companies have been tracking the impact of mental health on work. For example, Deloitte’s mental health survey recently reported that poor mental health among employees costs Indian employers around $14 billion yearly. “This is not a path you want to go down if you’re already facing business/macroeconomic stress,” Sinha said.

With the general slowdown and the onset of a winter with startup funding, volume jobs are at a discount, said Prabir Jha, founder & CEO, Prabir Jha People Advisory. “For those with niche skills, there may not be much to worry about. But some anxiety increase in the employee market is bound to happen with the prevailing mood and uncertainty,” he said.

Recently, Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato, announced on his LinkedIn handle that not one but 800 positions were up for grabs. Following this post, the entrepreneur ended up getting heavily trolled, as reported by ET earlier.