From August to September of 2022, Infinit Care, a tech-driven workplace mental well-being platform, conducted the largest cross-industry well-being assessment conducted in the Philippines.
The survey covers 2,645 full-time employees across a variety of industries, demographics, and work types, including knowledge and service workers. The assessment was based on the 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5), which is one of the most widely used measures of current mental well-being.
Participants of the survey self-reported on 5 statements pertaining to their general feelings of well-being in the two weeks prior to taking the assessment. A percentage score of 100 represents the best possible well-being state, and a score below 50 is seen to be indicative of reduced well-being.
Key insights from the assessment are as follows:
The average score was 54, close to the low-end of the spectrum.
10% of employees are discovered to have serious well-being issues.
Females had significantly lower well-being scores (average score 51/100) than males (average score 62/100).
Younger employees aged 21-30 years old were observed to have lower scores (average 50/100), while older employees were observed to have relatively higher scores (average 60/100)
Scores were different across industry sectors. Finance, IT, Media & advertising, and Utilities scored the lowest in well-being.
“The data is an affirmation of what we see during our day-to-day interactions with users,” explained Shyne Mangulabnan, Head of Clinical Care for Infinit Care. “Employees are trying their best to perform at work while laden with mental health burdens that are going unchecked and unaddressed. This study highlights the importance of changing the traditional perspective of mental health being an individual responsibility to making sure it becomes a collective priority.”
Despite the great need, conventional employee assistance programs (EAPs) are massively underused, historically garnering an average utilization of less than 1%. Current workplace support systems seem to only scratch the surface of offering relevant, timely, and helpful solutions.
“Now, as we emerge from the pandemic and find a way forward, companies can no longer deny the prevalence and impact of mental well-being challenges at work and the crucial role employers play to improve outcomes – for each of their employees as well as their bottom line, ” said Infinit Care General Manager, Anne Ordoña. “Companies have to proactively tackle well-being and come up with interventions on three levels: individual, leader, and organizational levels. Business leaders have to strongly consider addressing the needs of everyone – of those in crisis, as well as those who are ‘not yet’ struggling/languishing. It is important that people feel equipped and supported to cope with challenges to their well-being in order to perform and continue being productive.”
“It is clear that the legacy mental health support processes have underserved employers, employees, and their dependents,” explained Mark Mackenzie, CEO and Co-Founder of Infinit Care. “We have seen how impactful a technology platform approach can be to reduce barriers to access, lower costs of services, and enabling employees to access services wherever and whenever they need them. We will continue to improve the use of data to create insights and work with our partners to create better outcomes for all employees”.