Mental Health in UK Tech Deteriorates in Lockdown, Harvey Nash Study Reveals
LONDON, June 10, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The easing of lockdown restrictions and a return to offices is raising the stress levels of over a quarter of UK tech professionals (26%) at a time when over 1 in 3 (36%) report that their mental health has deteriorated during Covid-19, finds a new Harvey Nash Study.
The easing of lockdown restrictions has left tech professionals worrying most about bringing Covid-19 back into the home, and the health risk of their daily commute.
Those tech professionals (60%) that have been/are concerned about their mental health has risen 16% from before the pandemic - this rise is equivalent to an increase of almost 200,000 of the UK's tech workforce[1].
These findings are published in a new study by global technology recruiter, Harvey Nash, in association with This Can Happen, the world's largest online workplace mental health conference. The survey of 1,600 UK technology professionals comprised of – a wider survey prior to the Covid-19 global crisis, and then a Pulse Survey[2] during the crisis to measure the mental wellness of UK Tech's workforce in lockdown.
Other key findings include:
- Concerned about mental health for the first ever time - Of those people (27%) actively concerned about their mental wellbeing now, 35% say this is the first ever time they have been concerned.
- For 1 in 10 the stress they're feeling is negatively impacting on their work - This is almost twice as likely to apply to permanent workers as to IT contractors.
- IT roles under most pressure - Those in Project/Programme Management or IT Operational roles, who were under most strain to rapidly move large workforces into remote/virtual environments, have seen their mental health affected the most.
[1] The UK government calculates there are 1.3 million jobs in technology in the UK (Source: ONS). With 60% of the UK's tech professionals concerned about their mental health either in the past or right now, rising 16% from before the pandemic, this is an equivalent rise of almost 200,000 (180,000) of the UK's tech workforce concerned about their mental health.
[2] The Harvey Nash Pulse Survey was conducted between 22nd May – 3rd June 2020 – week's 10 & 11 of the Covid-19 UK lockdown.
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