South African workers are putting on a collective brave face and showing resilience despite stress, anxiety and burnout being common across workplaces.
This is according to the latest GIBS October Health Workplace Well-Being report, which includes the insights of 501 study participants, working either full-time, part-time or who are self-employed.
The report is a collaboration between the Gordon Institute of Business (GIBS) and mental wellness digital platform October Health, to measure the state of employees’ mental wellbeing and the factors affecting it.
Previous research by October Health found that employee mental health challenges were causing lost productivity through absenteeism and presenteeism — the phenomenon where employees go to work but are not productive or fully functioning due to medical reasons. This cost the economy an estimated R250bn, which reduces South Africa’s GDP by up to 4.5% each year.
The report found that age, gender and income had no statistically significant association with overall wellbeing.
When it came to their work environment, 46% said it was somewhat healthy, 31% believe it was very healthy, 18% said it was somewhat toxic and 5% said it was very toxic.
Overall, participants revealed that despite the prevalence of mental health challenges, they are surprisingly resilient and they recorded relatively high wellbeing scores except for the financial domain.
“From our sample, it is noteworthy that wellbeing scores are relatively high across the board, with most domains averaging in the low 70s. This indicates that, for most respondents, their perceptions of their mental, physical, social, emotional and work wellbeing are generally positive.”
“However, a difference is the financial domain, which registered lower than the others. The Old Mutual Savings & Investment Monitor 2024 and the 2024 Sanlam Financial Confidence Index report both speak to this, indicating that households are under financial strain, but people have found ways to cope and protect their overall wellbeing.
“The general state of workers in South Africa is marked by a mix of challenges and resilience. On one hand, many workers face financial hardship, job insecurity and the ongoing impact of South Africa’s challenges — that is, low economic growth, high unemployment, inequality, poverty, crime, poor service delivery and lasting effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. On the other hand, there is a strong sense of resilience and a can-do attitude,” the report states.
It highlighted the importance of psychological safety in the workplace, which some companies lack.
“It requires an organisational and teamwork environment in which workers are certain that questions, concerns and mistakes will not be punished or renounced.”
According to the report, study participants revealed there is a moderate experience of trust, care, pride and support at work.
However, more work in boosting psychological safety may need to be done to improve experiences in categories including trust in the leadership, procedures for getting support and an organisational openness to measure and share results about employee wellbeing.
“It is quite common for employees to mask their struggles due to fear of stigma or repercussions. Many put on a brave face, adhering to the ‘show must go on’ mindset, which can lead to worsening mental health over time.
“This façade of strength often prevents them from seeking the help they need and is common in organisations with low psychological safety, a low culture of self-care and leadership mindsets that do not prioritise employee mental health,” the report said.
Dr Frank Magwegwe, principal researcher at GIBS faculty, said: “One of our key insights is that leaders and managers can directly influence the mental and emotional state of employees.
“Intentional initiatives that boost the wellbeing of staff can significantly enhance workplace productivity and resilience by reducing absenteeism, improving employee engagement and fostering a supportive work environment.
“When employees feel supported, they are more likely to perform at their best, be highly engaged and remain loyal to the organisation that provides not just employment and security but a sense of purpose and fulfilment.”
Prof Louise Whittaker, GIBS deputy dean, said the high costs of productivity loss due to mental health challenges show that organisations cannot rely solely on the fortitude of their workers.
“There still needs to be a mindset shift from wellbeing or performance to wellbeing and performance. We hope that over time we will see greater worker wellbeing awareness among South African employers and the availability of proactive, relevant and meaningful worker wellbeing programmes.”
Alon Lits, co-founder of October Health, said organisations that foster open, supportive environments see better employee engagement and mental health outcomes.
“Counteracting the stigma of mental health issues, normalising experiences of stress, anxiety and depression, promoting open communications around wellbeing topics and proactively making resources available to employees, help create a work environment that enhances productivity and performance.”
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