Forty per cent of Irish workers are anxious about returning to their physical workplace, according to research carried out by insurance company Zurich and Rugby Players Ireland.

The August survey of 1,238 people was carried out as part of the two entities’ Tackle Your Feelings mental wellbeing campaign, and found that women are more anxious than men, with almost half feeling anxious as against just over a third of men.

Overall, a third of people said they are concerned they won’t have the mental wellbeing support they need when returning to their workplace, with one in two 18-24 year olds fearing a lack of support.

One in two respondents in the survey stated that their mental wellbeing has declined under the impact of Covid-19. 54% believe returning to the physical workplace will benefit their mental health and 60% say they have a good team in work to support mental wellbeing.

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However, half don’t think their manager or line manager provides adequate mental wellbeing resources for them and their colleagues, and four in ten people said they are hiding from their employer a lot of issues and challenges they are facing.

Zurich chief executive Anthony Brennan (pictured)  said: “The lessons we have learned from the last number of months about the challenges that many of our staff, and people in Ireland and globally, have to deal with have been very important. 

“Now as we begin to plan our own journey back to our physical office we believe that the Tackle Your Feelings programme is more relevant than ever before. At a time when health and safety are at the forefront of all of our minds, we need to remember that our mental wellbeing will also play a vital role in our recovery.”

The Tackle Your Feelings website has resources that can help, and there’s an app called TYF to download to a smartphone or tablet.

Photo: Simon Keogh, James Lowe and Anthony Brennan