More employees are expressing concerns about their wellbeing in the workplace than ever before, according to a study of 50,000 employees conducted by Rungway, a company that assists organisations with change activation.

The study, the ‘State of Inclusivity in the Workplace 2023’, showed that concerns about wellbeing have risen by 88% in 2022. The report notes that the Covid-19 pandemic brought increasing awareness of psychological safety as much as physical safety.

In addition, despite increased efforts by employers to invest in the mental health of their employees, there is still a disconnect between how mental health and wellbeing are perceived. The gap is at 22%, with ‘employers consistently rating workplace dimensions associated with mental health and wellbeing more favourably than employees.’

Data for the report was pulled from Rungway users in more than 30 countries across the world. According to the study, women make up 49% of the users but post 56% of the questions on wellbeing. Women are also twice as likely as men to seek connection when talking about wellbeing, while men are 36% more likely than women to seek a specific answer. Data from Rungway also showed that women take more time to write than men. Women spend an average of 12 minutes writing a post about wellbeing whereas men spend half that time doing the same. 

Cultural differences were also observed even when people are allowed to ask questions anonymously. In North America and Europe, 86% of questions were anonymous, and in the Middle East, 93% of questions were posed anonymously. However, in Asia Pacific 100% of the anonymous questions were posted by women.

The option of anonymity allows for better insight into diversity of perspectives with the study noting the disparity in responses to questions posted by people of colour, who posted 22% more career-related questions than their white counterparts but received 46% more responses when given anonymity. Meanwhile, no differences were observed among white people when posting anonymously.  

Rungway advises employers to build a more resilient workforce to make them more adaptable to change by have deeper connections and more effective communication. Rungway also suggests responding to previously unheard perspectives, and to implement understanding of different cultures.