40% Indian Professionals In Distress Due To Virus: LinkedIn

Indian professionals or two in five are experiencing increased stress or anxiety due to COVID-19, online professional network LinkedIn said on Thursday.

As the pandemic took hold, only one in five professionals are being offered more time off for well-being, it said while analysing key survey data from April to September to highlight how pandemic stress and remote work burnout have adversely impacted the mental health of professionals in India.

The report containing online survey responses of 16,199 professionals comes ahead of the World Mental Health Day on October 10.

“The economic repercussions of ongoing pandemic have made Indian professionals vulnerable to job uncertainty, financial instability and bleak company outlook while continuing to work remotely in social isolation,” it said.

Findings reflect that 51 per cent of the Indian workforce is working remotely due to COVID-19 and continues to question the effectiveness of remote work as professionals experience increased stress and anxiety.

Findings also show that while 60 per cent of Indian professionals had felt lonely at some point while working remotely, 37 per cent still feel lonely doing it now.

More than one in three Indian professionals also believe that working remotely is slowing down their career progression (41 per cent), it is making them feel more lonely (37 per cent) and harming their work-life balance (36 per cent).

Ashutosh Gupta, India Country Manager for LinkedIn, said the ongoing stress around three R’s — remote work, return to work and risk of exposure — are adversely impacting the mental health of Indian professionals.

Companies in India are beginning to bolster their mental health programmes to support their employees in such times, he said. (ANI)