Are young workers facing a ‘resilience crisis’?

Young workers are facing lower levels of resilience, highlighting a need for support.

According to Springfox’s 2023 Global Resilience Report, workers under the age of 30 are seeing a decline in resilience, with women being the most vulnerable to these challenges.

This can give rise to mental health issues if not addressed, said Springfox co-founder Peta Sigley.

“Younger workers experiencing depleted levels of resilience are significantly more at risk of developing anxiety and depression, impacting their wider health and productivity,” Ms Sigley said.

“Employers must consider how they develop onboarding and graduate programs to further support these employees in building the skills required to grow and maintain the resilience required to successfully navigate through periods of personal and professional adversity.”

Springfox is labelling this issue the “resilience crisis”. According to the report, 18 per cent of workers under the age of 30 are classed as “fragile”, meaning they’re likely to break under pressure. Meanwhile, 60 per cent were found to be “robust”, which Springfox identifies as “coping but distressed”.

Younger women were more likely to experience issues, with 21 per cent of under 30s reporting low resilience ratios. According to Springfox, this can lead to issues such as chronic distress, anxiety, illness, self-doubt, fatigue, and apathy.

The report noted that males were less likely than women to have resilience issues, but young men were still affected. Springfox said this could cause sleep delay, boredom, rumination, disconnectedness, and impulsivity.

To help protect vulnerable workers, Springfox said employers should be investing in resilience training and implementing these programs as early as onboarding.

Ms Sigley continued: “By integrating these critical skills into employee training and development programs, organisations will equip future leaders with the resilience strategies required to achieve performance with care.”

“The message to employers is clear: more needs to be done to support the future of our workforce and to build the skills required to minimise worry, protect against fatigue, master anxiety, stay engaged and fit, and reduce rumination. Employers who value their staff today play a key role in supporting these skills now and into the future.”

Another method for boosting resilience is outsourcing HR, as discussed by HR Leader last year.

Jayne Morgan, Just Global HR Services managing director, said: “We’re all human. We’re not robots. And I think resilience has also sometimes been called ‘bounce-back ability’. So, it’s how do we reduce that bouncing effect to make it less?”

For in-house HR professionals or business leaders wondering why they might turn to an outsourced HR expert for resilience advice, Ms Morgan explained: “The things that we do that other people don’t want to do, a lot of the time, it’s generally just our bread and butter, and it’s easy to do.”