26 million days: The stunning work toll of Gen Z ‘mental health days’ – and why it can stop younger workers getting a job
Aussie bosses have 26 million reasons to think twice about employing younger workers, as a new study reveals the immense cost of Gen Z staff taking regular mental health leave.
Young Australians taking mental health mini-breaks are missing 26 million days of work a year, with bosses starting to screen out workers they perceive to be at risk of costly stress claims.
Analysis of the working lives of 5515 Australians by Macquarie University researchers shows those aged 18 to 29, women, and workers from Victoria are the most stressed Australians of all.
A total of 22 per cent of Victorian workers register high or very high stress rates, compared to only 14 per cent of workers in Western Australia who are overstressed – the lowest in the country.
Victoria also has the highest annual average loss days of 5.7, compared to 3.3 in the Australian Capital Territory.
The report, based on Australian Bureau of Statistics National Health Survey data from 2020 and 2021, shows the most highly stressed workers miss more than 20 days of work a year – an additional month off compared to their less stressed counterparts.
It shows that after adjusting for all variables, workers who are 18 to 29 are one and a half times more likely to be distressed compared to workers aged 50 to 64.
Many of these workers are in Gen Z, the generation born between 1997 and 2012.
Lead author Kristy Burns said the findings reflect a “rising trend in psychological distress in the population over the last 20 years, a trend likely exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic”.
She said there were “worrying early signs that bosses may be starting to screen out workers they think may exhibit signs of psychological stress”.
“This is the last thing we need as a society – young people missing out on workplace opportunities,” she said.
Stress costs workplaces nearly $17bn a year and accounts for nearly 10 per cent of serious injury claims, with a number of states, including New South Wales and Victoria, requiring employers to positively reduce workplace psychosocial hazards.
Overall, 18 per cent of workers reported psychological distress, with clerical and administrative workers the highest (25.9 per cent) and mining the lowest (8.5 per cent). This is up from 11 per cent in 2017 and 2018.
Women tend to be more stressed, with 21.9 per cent experiencing distress compared to 14.8 per cent of males, the Macquarie University study found.
Total days off due to distress are estimated to be 56 million, with healthcare, education and training, accommodation and food, and retail workers taking the most days off.
Younger workers aged 18 to 29 accounted for the greatest number of distress-related loss days of all age groups (26 million), despite having the smallest workforce.
Ms Burns said young workers “are exposed more often to psychosocial risk factors such as workplace conflict, low job control, bullying, and precarious employment arrangements”.
“The rise of the gig economy and heightened job insecurity suggests young workers will continue to face insecure, low quality, precarious jobs, leaving them particularly vulnerable to poorer mental health outcomes,” she said.
Madeline Miller, a leadership and culture strategist, said young people “shouldn’t be viewed as more fragile; they’re entering a work landscape that is objectively more stressful”.
“Workers in their early careers face higher demands, less control, more insecurity, and unclear expectations. That combination keeps the nervous system in a constant state of alert,” she said.
“Younger workers aren’t expecting too much; they’re expecting what supports mental health: clarity, fairness, growth, and psychological safety. When workplaces can’t provide that, distress rises. It’s not entitlement; it’s a mismatch.”
The research comes as ACTU data showed one in five Australian workers sustained a mental health injury in the last year, including those caused by a spike in workplace violence and aggression.
ACTU assistant secretary, Liam O’Brien called for “national regulations to protect workers from violence and aggression in the workplace and unreasonable workloads because mental health injury rates are too high”.
Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry executive director of policy and advocacy, Amelia Bitsis, said high levels of psychological stress felt by workers during Covid “did not ease when lockdowns ended”.
“Victorian businesses are contributing more than $1.15bn each year through the Mental Health and Wellbeing Levy, yet workers continue to report high levels of psychological distress, even post-Covid and post-levy implementation in 2022,” she said.
“Psychological health must be treated with the same seriousness as physical safety. That means systematically identifying psychosocial hazards – including aggression, violence, bullying, high job demands, low support, low job control and isolated work – and putting practical controls in place.”
Ms Bitsis said it was “time to review the performance of the levy, with greater transparency about what it funds, how effective the programs are, and how many Victorians are being reached”.
One frustrated worker from Victoria is Heather Gordon, who teaches year 3 at Heidelberg Primary.
She said stress was one reason young teachers were leaving the profession.
“If we keep losing young people, who is going to be left? Young people as graduates are less likely to speak our and raise concerns as they don’t want to jeopardise their contract,” Ms Gordon said.
“There is a lot of silent stress and young women fear they will be seen as complainers if they say anything. Experienced teachers can find ways to cope but younger ones can need more support.
“It doesn’t help that Victorian teachers are the lowest-paid and we have the lowest-funded government schools.”
Are younger generations less resilient than older workers? Leave a comment or email us at education@news.com.au
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Originally published as 26 million days: The stunning work toll of Gen Z ‘mental health days’ – and why it can stop younger workers getting a job
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