Workplace mental health has become a growing concern across Europe, with 45% of workers exposed to risks to their mental health on the job, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA). Despite the scale of the problem, many employees and employers remain reluctant to discuss it openly, making it harder to prevent harm and improve working conditions.
As Europe’s workforce faces staff shortages and an ageing population, pressure on employees is increasing. Long working hours, heavy workloads and emotionally demanding tasks are among the workplace conditions linked to poorer mental health, EU-OSHA executive director William Cockburn told Euronews.
Cockburn said reluctance to speak openly about mental health was one of the main barriers preventing employers and workers from taking action. When employees fear stigma or feel unable to raise concerns, problems can remain unaddressed until they begin affecting their health, performance or ability to continue working.
The figures point to the scale of the challenge. Around 44% of European workers report severe time pressure or excessive workloads. The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) estimates that work-related depression costs the European Union more than 100 billion euros annually when absenteeism, lost productivity, healthcare and wider social costs are taken into account.
For Cockburn, the response should follow the same principles used to protect workers from physical hazards. Employers need to identify risks, assess their impact and take practical steps to reduce them rather than treating mental health as a private problem for individual employees to manage alone.
Those risks can include excessive working hours, difficult workplace relationships, bullying, harassment and violence or threats of violence. Identifying these problems early can help employers address the conditions contributing to psychological strain before they cause more serious harm.
Esther Lynch, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), has also argued that prevention must focus on how work is organised, not simply on how individuals cope with pressure. She compared workplace mental health prevention with physical safety measures, explaining that employers do not wait for an employee to suffer an injury before introducing safeguards. The same principle, she said, should apply to risks associated with working conditions.
Involving workers in decisions about workplace health and safety is central to that approach. However, EU-OSHA figures show that only 45% of workers say they are consulted about the stressful aspects of their jobs. Without that input, employers may overlook the pressures employees face in their daily work or introduce measures that fail to address the underlying causes.
Cockburn said worker participation is both a legal obligation under European law and an important factor in making workplace health and safety measures effective. Employees are often well placed to identify excessive demands, poor working relationships and other problems that may not be apparent to management.
The European Commission has now launched its Healthy Workplaces campaign to help employers prevent, assess and manage psychosocial risks at work. The initiative also aims to encourage more open discussion of mental health in workplaces where stigma or fear of speaking out continues to prevent action.
Speaking at the campaign’s launch on Tuesday, Roxana Mînzatu, the European Commission’s executive vice-president for social rights and jobs, said healthier working environments could benefit both employees and employers. She said investment in workplace well-being could improve workers’ health, reduce sick leave and staff turnover, support performance and ease pressure on health systems.
The campaign comes as European institutions and worker representatives call for greater attention to the conditions that shape employees’ mental health. The central message is that preventing psychological harm requires more than encouraging individuals to seek help. Employers must also examine workloads, working hours, workplace relationships and whether staff have a meaningful opportunity to raise concerns.
Making mental health easier to discuss is an important step, but lasting progress depends on whether those conversations lead to changes in working conditions. For European workers facing sustained pressure, a workplace where concerns can be raised and risks are taken seriously could make the difference between problems being recognised early and being allowed to worsen.
