While no one wants to go through a workforce reduction, all too often, they are necessary today. As a result, the mental health of your employees can be affected, and knowing what to expect will be beneficial for everyone involved. Here is how workforce reduction can affect your employees’ mental health.

You may see a rise in mental health issues such as the following: 

• falling morale 
• low motivation 
• depression 
• anxiety and job insecurity 
• chronic burnout and stress 

If you ignore the effects of a workforce reduction on your remaining employees, it can directly affect your organization’s ongoing performance. 

How Job Loss Affects Mental Health 

Along with job loss comes the loss of a paycheck, benefits, and the feeling of security. It’s no wonder then that it can also profoundly affect one’s mental health. 

Job loss can lead to feelings of helplessness, self-doubt, low self-esteem, rejection, abandonment, resentment, grief, and anger. In turn, those who lose their jobs often sink into anxiety or depression. 

Companies can better prepare employees by implementing a comprehensive and empathetic offboarding strategy. 

How to Assist Your Workforce in Dealing with Job Loss Fear 

Job loss fear, also known as job insecurity, is the ongoing feeling or threat of losing a job with no power to prevent it from occurring. Anxiety and a decrease in overall well-being can occur. 

As the employer, you can assist your workforce in dealing with job loss fear in the following ways. 

1. Listen, acknowledge, and remain empathetic. Provide employees with an outlet to safely voice their fears. 

2. Keep communications open. Inform your employees about any upcoming changes, and remain transparent and honest. 

3. Show you prioritize mental well-being by offering wellness initiatives and providing employees access to mental health counseling and coaching. 

5. Offer skill training to increase employees’ confidence in their skills and their value to the organization. 

6. Initiate team bonding experiences to help employees build supportive environments. 

By acknowledging the potential for employees to experience mental health challenges following a workforce reduction and being proactive about it, you will positively affect your organizational performance going forward. 

Axiom Medical Can Help!

Having a trusted partner with expertise and experience in the workforce mental health space is key to providing your employees compassionate care. Axiom Medical has designed effective end-to-end solutions to help employers like you build a high-performing, resilient workforce.