A survey by the UK’s leading independent job board, CV-Library, has found that 53.3% of legal professionals in the country believe that their mental health is now worse than it was a year ago.
The job board surveyed 1,300 professionals in the UK to better understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the wellbeing of the country’s workforce.
The following five concerns were named by legal professionals as having the biggest impact on their mental health:
- Worrying about not being able to find a job (87.5%)
- Experiencing financial difficulties (50%) / Worrying about the wellbeing of friends and/or family members (50%)
- Worrying about losing my current job (37.5%)
- Not being able to leave my home during lockdown (25%)
- Having a poor work-life balance (25%)
These causes of stress are mostly in line with those named by workers in other professions. However, legal professionals appear to be more worried about losing their current job and maintaining a poor work-life balance. This veers away from the national average, as most workers in other sectors did not feature those among their top five career fears.
“The last seven months has been filled with a great amount of uncertainty and it’s understandable that so many legal professionals feel their mental health is suffering,” said Lee Biggins, founder and CEO of CV-Library. “Businesses need to be aware of these challenges and ensure they’re offering support to employees who may be struggling.”
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In addition to the above statistics, the study also revealed that 53.3% of legal employees feel that their work-life balance is worse than it was a year ago, with 50% of those respondents picking out working from home as the primary reason for this.
Further, 73.3% of those surveyed said that they would look for a new job in order to gain a better work-life balance.
“The government has once again recommended that professionals should work from home where possible,” Biggins continued. “While this may be good news for some, those who struggle to find a healthy work-life balance will be dreading the next few months.”
