Work-life imbalance: Employee stress keeps India Inc on the edge

India Inc is facing a rise in mental health challenges among employees even as industry leaders like NR Narayana Murthy and L&T chairman SN Subrahmanyan gun for longer work hours and working weekends. More than 90% of employees under 25 years are experiencing anxiety, compared to 67% for those over 45, emphasising the need for structured support for younger employees, according to data compiled from counselling sessions conducted by 1to1help, an employee assistance programme service provider.

The 'State of Emotional Well-being Report 2024' by 1to1help finds that mental health concerns have risen to 15%, becoming one of the top two concerns for employees reaching out for counselling.

The report on challenges around workplace mental health was based on a dataset of over 83,000 counselling sessions, 12,000 elective screenings, and 42,000 assessments from January to November 2024. It reveals an increase in uptake of counselling services among corporate workers.

Alarmingly, 59% of employees referred by their managers showed signs of self-harm, reaffirming the need for manager training to help and support distressed staff. The report also reveals that dependents of employees are at higher risk of suicide, stressing the need for extending emotional wellbeing assistance to employees' family members as well.

"Our report finds that managers can play a life-changing role, as over half of the manager referrals we received involved a presence of suicidal risk. This shows the importance of organisations and crucially, of managers in helping employees reach the right support at the right time," said Mahua Bisht, CEO of 1to1help.


While counselling related to workplace concerns comprised 11% of total counselling sessions, workplace relationship-related discussions claimed the top spot at 23%. The report also finds counselling uptake by men rose by 7%, with 70% of financial consultations being undertaken by men, reflecting their worries about financial anxiety and societal pressure over their role as the 'breadwinner' of the family. Notably, there was a disproportionately larger representation of women in counselling with 52% of all counselling sessions being taken by women despite their lower representation in the workplace.

Signs of depression and anxiety were also more pronounced among individuals under 30 than those over 45 years. This is likely attributed to stressors like relocation, career changes, and relationship difficulties in their early and mid-twenties.