Nearly half (45 per cent) of workers in the EU face risks for their mental health at work.
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The figures are from the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work as it launches a new campaign aimed at reversing this trend: “Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2026-2028. Together for mental health at work.”
The discouraging figures are based on a survey conducted last year among 25,000 workers in all 27 EU member states.
The survey provides a broad picture of workers’ wellbeing in Europe and the challenges they face in their day-to-day working lives.
The EU campaign aims to encourage more employers to regularly assess psychosocial risks, invest in preventative measures and create a more open workplace culture where people feel comfortable discussing mental health.
In the 2025 survey, nearly one in three workers say they experience stress, depression or anxiety at work.
Worst hit are those working in the health and care sector, which employs more than 21.5 million people in the EU.
Psychosocial risks in the workplace
There is still a significant stigma surrounding poor mental health in the workplace, according to the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work.
Nearly half of the workers who answered last year’s survey believed their career would suffer if they talked openly to their employer about poor mental health.
Despite the growing focus on poor mental health in the workplace, many organisations still lack a systematic approach to tackling the problem.
According to the European safety and health agency, only two in five European companies have routines for preventing work-related stress.
Mental health has generally deteriorated across Europe after the Covid-19 pandemic. The European safety and health agency says 46 per cent of EU residents report experiencing some kind of mental health challenges.
