Poor mental health continues to plague employees
For further information, please contact:
Miranda Kyte, Zurich UK Media Relations Manager
0748 446 2799
miranda.kyte@uk.zurich.com
19 June 2025
- Demand for mental health support accounts for one in three calls and remains the main reason people use the service
- Anxiety is the number one call category for the fourth year running
- UK workers are feeling the labour market squeeze with a clear spike in worries about redundancy
- Caring responsibilities for children and elders is a growing cause for concern
- More employees are seeking support about neurodiversity
New data from Zurich Corporate Risk reveals that Britain’s poor mental health continues to be the main driver of calls to employee assistance helplines, with anxiety and low mood accounting for one in three calls in 2024 (30%).
Anxiety remains the number one call category for the fourth year running and is responsible for nearly a fifth of calls (19%), while low mood makes up more than 1 in 10 calls to the helpline (11%). Together, the prevalence of these two categories indicates persistent poor mental health among UK employees.
ONS data shows that mental health is the fifth most common reason for sickness from work, accounting for 7.9% of absences in 20221, while previous Zurich/Cebr research found that long term sick leave due to poor mental health costs the economy around £5.9bn a year2.
The analysis also revealed that calls about familial relationships were contributing to Britons’ worries. Calls regarding a partner increased 16%, placing it in third place. Calls about family in general were up 4% year-on-year. In total this accounted for 12% of total call volumes in 2024.
Since the start of 2025, calls to the helpline have continued the same patterns with anxiety, low mood, partner issues and employment remaining the top four call categories.
Top ten EAP call categories in 2024
| Ranking | Call category | Volume of calls | Percentage of total calls | Year-on-year change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anxiety | 2339 | 19% | -11% |
| 2 | Low mood | 1290 | 11% | +4% |
| 3 | Partner | 1114 | 9% | +16% |
| 4 | Employment | 838 | 7% | +14% |
| 5 | Bereavement | 823 | 7% | -10% |
| 6 | Service enquiry | 664 | 5% | +9% |
| 7 | Depression | 495 | 4% | -38% |
| 8 | Divorce & separation (legal) | 420 | 3% | -12% |
| 9 | Family | 310 | 3% | +4% |
| 10 | Concerns over own health | 228 | 2% | -3% |
Work and office relationships labour on employees' minds
As the labour market continues to squeeze, employment concerns have grown. Placing sixth in 2023 and now increasing 14% year-on-year to fourth place, it’s clear employment is top of mind for UK employees. Calls about work relationship issues also grew 118% year-on-year suggesting growing workplace tensions.
While many employers are considering their employment costs following April's National Insurance hike, fears around redundancy have swelled leading call volumes to increase 39% year-on-year. These fears may be well founded; research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) found that just over a third of the 2,000 firms it spoke to said they planned to reduce their headcount this year through redundancies or by recruiting fewer workers3.
Caring responsibilities a growing cause of concern
Care-related worries are a growing cause of calls to Zurich’s EAP helpline, with calls relating to childcare up 31% year-on-year. Similarly, the number of employees calling about eldercare concerns are up 41%.
The OECD estimates that the cost of childcare in the UK amounts to 25% of the average income, making it one of the most expensive countries in the world for childcare4, while the ONS projects that by 2072 the proportion of the population aged over 65 will grow to 27% - equivalent to 22.1 million people5.
Neurodiversity and mental health
Another growing trend are calls to the helpline regarding neurodiversity and other diagnosed mental health issues, which saw year-on-year increases of 13% and 44% respectively. Last year, Zurich research found that half of neurodivergent adults say they have been discriminated against by a hiring manager or recruiter because of their neurodiversity6.
Nick Homer, Head of Group Risk at Zurich UK said:
“Our data shows that poor mental health is still the main reason employees are calling helplines, with anxiety the number one call category for the fourth year running. But we can see that other issues are emerging in response to labour market uncertainty and the rising costs of caring responsibilities.
“At a time when there are a multitude of issues impacting employees, it is more important than ever that employers offer proactive and preventative support. Our EAP offers guidance to individuals to help them resolve personal issues, which in turn supports their mental wellbeing and helps them to thrive at work.”
Zurich’s EAP helpline offers a support service that provides expert advice and compassionate guidance 24/7. Confidential and practical support is available, providing both reactive and preventative care for employees. The service offers important guidance and advice on taking the next steps to resolve issues. The service also provides podcasts and articles, as well as signposting to organisations to help with specific issues. Through the Wisdom App, employees can also access live chat and video calls.
- 1 Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2022, ONS data 2023
- 2 Work absences due to long-term sickness could cost the economy £66.3bn a year by 2030 in lost productivity, Zurich/Cebr research 2024
- 3 Looming national insurance changes prompt widespread plans to cut hiring and increase redundancies, CIPD research Feb 2025
- 4 Net childcare costs, OECD data 2023.
- 5 The UK’s changing population, ONS data 2024.
- 6 (49%), Excluded from the job market: almost half forced to hide their neurodiversity, Zurich research 2024
About the Employee Assistance Programme
Zurich Corporate Risk’s EAP is operated by Health Assured and offered to Corporate Protection customers. The service provides Group Income Protection customers with structured sessions of face to face, telephone/video or online counselling, plus unlimited access to 24/7 support via its confidential helpline. In addition, comprehensive health and wellbeing support is available via a number of tools, including the Wisdom Health & Wellbeing app.