Workplace Mental Health Report

In 2024, the incidence of emotional exhaustion among domestic workplace workers has reached 72.3%. There is no "universal solution" suitable for everyone. Only two-way (individual + organizational) intervention that matches personal career demands and industry attributes is the truly effective way to break the situation.

This number comes from a survey jointly released by the Institute of Psychology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Zhaopin Recruitment this year, covering 12,000 working people from different industries and ranks in 31 provinces and cities. To put it more bluntly, if you randomly ask the office workers around you "Are you tired recently?", nine times out of ten they will roll their eyes at you and say "Isn't this nonsense?"

When it comes to the root causes of psychological problems in the workplace, the circle has been arguing for almost ten years but there is no unified conclusion. I had dinner with the HRD of a large factory last month, and she was still complaining about the "glass-hearted" attitude of today's young people: "Ten years ago, when we were working on a project and even staying in the company for half a month, no one complained about being tired. Now, after working overtime for three days, some people complain about depression. I would say that they have never suffered. ”But when I turned around, I received a WeChat message from a child who worked in operations at my former company. He said that he went to the hospital last week and was diagnosed with moderate anxiety because he had stayed up for seven consecutive days of sales promotions. The doctor asked him to stop working and rest, but he did not dare to mention his resignation. He still owed half a month's rent, so he could only secretly hide the diagnosis certificate in the bottom drawer of his work station, and even had to hide in the toilet to take medicine. Who do you think is wrong? They all seem to make sense, but they don't seem to have ever thought about it from the other person's position.

Many people think that only high-paying, high-pressure Internet and financial industries can cause psychological problems. This is not true. Last year, I did a survey of grassroots social workers in the sub-district office in Hangzhou. Eight of the dozen social workers suffered from chronic insomnia. Their monthly salary was more than 4,000 yuan, and they were responsible for the affairs of more than 2,000 households, ranging from neighborhood disputes to as small as a lost cat looking for a dog. Looking for them, the assessments above are one after another, and they even have to control what is posted on WeChat Moments. A little girl in 1998 told me that she gets panicked when she hears the WeChat notification sound. "I don't dare to turn on the sound after get off work, for fear that an urgent task will suddenly come to me."

There are basically two schools of solutions on the market today. One is the individual school that calls "seeking inward" and teaches you mindfulness, emotion management, and anti-PUA skills. Many friends around me have bought similar courses. It is really useful. For example, a buddy who works in an investment bank now works every day. I take 10 minutes to do mindful breathing in the morning, saying that at least my heart will not beat so fast before the market opens that I feel like vomiting. However, many people criticize me, saying that this is essentially "letting employees take their own medicine to cure the company's disease." Your company is 996 every day, and even a living Buddha has to hold back his anger when he comes to work. The other faction is the interventionist group that shouts "organizations need to be responsible", which is the EAP employee assistance plan that many companies are currently purchasing. To be honest, most of them are just a formality. I have asked many employees of state-owned enterprises and Internet companies that their EAP either fills out an evaluation questionnaire that no one reads once a year, or it is a hotline that can never be reached. The consultant who actually got through did not even know what the "needs review" and "OKR dismantling" you mentioned were. All they said was "you need to adjust your mentality." I was even more angry after hearing this.

The year before last, I helped a new media company with more than 20 people conduct a small pilot intervention. I did not do anything fancy, but made two requirements: First, you must get off work at 5 o'clock on time every Tuesday and Thursday. After get off work, you are not allowed to send work news unless the sky falls.； The second KPI assessment cuts off half of the process indicators and only looks at the final results. After implementing these two measures for two months, their employee turnover rate dropped from the previous 35% to 17%, and the self-assessment scores for emotional exhaustion dropped by an average of 32%. The boss said that the revenue for that quarter increased by 12% because everyone was more efficient at work and no one wasted time fishing.

To be honest, there is no standard answer when it comes to mental health in the workplace. Some people are just willing to work hard for three to five years to earn enough for the down payment, and they will accept it even if they are tired. ； Some people just want to find a 9-to-5 job. After get off work, they can go home to cook and walk the dog. There is nothing wrong with that. The most taboo thing is to use "emotional stability" and "strong ability to withstand stress" to kidnap people. Everyone goes to work to sell time and ability, not emotional value. Take a break when you are tired, and if it doesn't work, just change places. It's really no big deal.

By the way, if you have been unable to sleep for half a month and have no interest in anything, don’t insist on thinking that you can get through it. Go to the psychology department of a regular hospital to register for a consultation. A few dozen yuan will be more useful than watching ten short videos on emotion management.