Layoffs Causing Anxiety And Depression
IT sector has lately been suffering from layoffs due to slowdown in the industry and job insecurity is pushing professionals into anxiety and depression. Around 62.5 per cent professionals across sectors were undergoing issues such as anxiety and depression due to occupational insecurity, according to a survey by an online counselling platform ‘YourDost’.
The platform says that despite the recent layoffs in the IT industry, the forecast is more alarming with six lakh more jobs to be lost in the next three years. This is decreasing the mental wellness amongst the professionals subsequently.
The platform received more than 1,000 queries in three days; most of them were seeking online counselling to cope up with stress. The survey found out that 65 per cent inquiries were from professionals who had been laid off or were insecure about their job stability, given the uncertainty in the industry.
More than 43 per cent professionals were from the IT sector while a few were from healthcare, pharma sector, manufacturing and e-commerce industry. The study finds out that 57 per cent are suffering the problems alone without opening up to friends and family.
Most of the queries received were from males of the age group of 24-29 years and were a maximum of 15 per cent from Karnataka, followed by 12 per cent from Maharashtra and 11 per cent from Delhi along with a few queries from North East India, Orissa, and Himachal Pradesh. However, 42 per cent of those queries were from Tier II and Tier III cities.
Richa Singh, CEO and co-founder, YourDOST said, “The societal stigma attached to losing a job and the consequent ignominy can be very detrimental to the mental health of professionals. This aspect of lay-offs is hardly given thought in our society. With professional help, we could minimize their emotional suffering and facilitate a stronger, more motivated mindset amongst the laid off individuals.”
