New Data From Ginger Shows Nearly 70 Percent of Workers Feel More Stressed During COVID-19 Than at Any Other Point in Their Entire Professional Career

One third of U.S. workers are losing two or more hours of productivity per day from increased stress

Ginger, the leader in on-demand mental healthcare, announced new data on the mental health of U.S. workers before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. In follow up to Ginger’s Second Annual Workforce Attitudes Report, fielded in February 2020, the survey compiled data from U.S. full-time workers in April to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trends in Ginger’s data reveal a dramatic increase in U.S. employee stress levels, a significant drop in productivity, and an uptick in the use of virtual mental healthcare for support.

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New Ginger research reveals a dramatic increase in U.S. employee #stress, a significant drop in #productivity, and an uptick in the use of #virtualcare for #mentalhealth support during #COVID19

U.S. workers were stressed before COVID-19; now, stress levels are through the roof.

Before the onset of COVID-19, almost 60 percent of workers shared that stress had brought them to tears at work, a 23 percent increase from 2019. Surveyed following the onset of COVID-19, workers’ stress levels are significantly higher:

• 88 percent of workers reported experiencing moderate to extreme stress over the past 4-6 weeks.
• 69 percent of workers claimed this was the most stressful time of their entire professional career, including major events like the September 11 terror attacks, the 2008 Great Recession and others. Every demographic, including adults over the age of 55, rated COVID-19 as the most stressful time.
• 91 percent of employees working from home reported experiencing moderate to extreme stress.
• 43 percent of employees have become physically ill as a result of work-related stress.

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COVID-19-related stress is having a dramatic impact on employee productivity, and men appear to be disproportionately impacted.

• 62 percent of workers reported losing at least one hour a day in productivity due to COVID-19 related stress, with 32 percent losing more than two hours per day.
• 70 percent of workers agreed that employees at their company are significantly less productive because of stress and anxiety surrounding COVID-19.
• Men are 27 percent more likely to lose hours of productivity. In fact, men report that their work lives are significantly more impacted by stress:

“Whether they are working on the front lines or working at home, employees are urgently in need of accessible, equitable mental health benefits now more than ever,” said Sally Welborn, Executive Advisor at the Employer Health Innovation Roundtable and Former Senior Vice President of Global Benefits for Walmart Stores, Inc. “As employers wrestle with business continuity planning during COVID-19, this research confirms that employers need to make mental health support a critical aspect of that plan, or risk a dramatic impact on employee health and productivity.”

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