Digitization of the world of work: the risks to mental health

Five years after Pandemia Covid-19, what had been an experiment due to a global need, working from home, has become an organizational model, a form of welfare, a priority for many workers.
According to the Smart Working Observatory of the Polytechnic of Milan, in 2024 In Italy, 3.55 million of people have worked remotelyagainst 570 thousand in 2019.

For the 2025 A growth of the +5%which would touch 3.75 million.

A change professional and cultural that needs a fundamental ally to work, the digital technologies including:

• tools of Instant Messaging, Web Conferencefixed-motor convergence that favor collaboration
• devices that allow access to services e instruments professional in any time and from any placefree people from the need for the fixed location by facilitating mobility.

Digitization of the world of work and mental health of workers

On 12 December 2024 the conference “was held at the European Parliament in Bruxell”Connected Minds, Caring Workplaces: Addressing Mental Health in the Digital Era“Planned to explore how much the digital transformation into the world of work is influencing the Health of the European workers.

A debate that supported:

1. the crucial need to promote the mental health as fundamental priority for individuals;
2. the urgency to put the topic at the forefront of the agenda of European institutions of the years to come.

Substantial changes

The digitization of work has brought significant changes in working dynamics integrating technologies advanced as:

• Robotics
• Intelligent digital systems
• Digital work platforms
• Artificial intelligence

Innovations that have redefined the environments and the organization of work, granting numerous benefits, but also Remarkable challenges which require updates and reviews on Health and safety at work (SSL).

On the one hand, these digital tools offer flexibility, the possibility of remote And Smart Working that improve life-work balance; on the other hand they do blend the boundaries between work and private life and make subject to one constant connectivity.

Also, working at a distance, the communication between colleagues can become more complex and use new tools and technologies requires constant updating; All causes that change times and expectations, generating greater pressure on the worker.

The new dynamics and related psychosocial risks

But what are the dynamics that can engage Psychosocial risks?

IsolationIft

Working far from the work environment does not like over 55 and Gen Z. According to an interview with Il Corriere della Sera, in fact:

The 77% of the interviewees of this age group said they do not love the home environment to work.

The 60% he chose to return to full time in office.

In addition, the 47% In the 16-24-year-old range it feels abandoned from colleagues and employers away from the office. And also for the80% of the 45-54 year band, the distance from the office can increase the risk of loneliness.

The culture of the always connectedIft

The tools of collaboration and digital messaging are very powerful allies of the organization, but often lead to a constant availability by eroding space and time to private life.

Already in 2021, in the middle of the post pandemic scenario, the European Parliament discussed the right to disconnection As a fundamental right because the culture of being always connected involves greater risks of depression, anxiety and burnout.

He also encouraged the EU countries to adopt the necessary measures to allow workers to exercise this right, also through collective agreements between the social partners to avoid negative repercussions by employers.

The excess of online meetings Ift

With the explosion of hybrid work, the time spent in meeting He grew up of the 252% in the face of null benefits in terms of greater productivity.

The average employee, according to the Work Trend Index, passes the 57% of his time to communicate through Online meetingsmail and chat and the 68% of people globally declare that they do not have enough time to concentrate during the working day, drawing it stress and frustration.

For this, companies with an international character have started to take measures. Shopify, for example, has:

• definitively canceled recurring meetings with more than 3 people
• invited employees to plan only truly essential meetings only
• imposed that large meetings take place only in a six -hour block on Thursday
• introduced on Wednesday without meetings.

In addition, the introduction of advanced robotics, automation and artificial intelligence arise working uncertainties and influence on anxiety And insecurity.

The fears of the workers

In this scenario, already in 2023, from the interview mentioned above, the workers’ fears:

• The 21% fears to stay too long closed at home
• The 15% to stay Alone
• The 14% to be in a different time zone from colleagues
• the11% of not being able to stop The work at the right time
• The 9% to work too much e Not be able to concentrate
• the8% to have Difficulty of communicationand with colleagues.

The data on the impact of mental health digitization

The Healthy Workplaces 2023-2025 campaign in the health sector e Work safety in the digital erareports the following data of Osh Pulse Survey 2022:

• The 46% of workers reports strong temporal pressure or Work overload due to digital tools
• The 44% of workers states that digital technologies contribute to theisolation at work
• The 27% of workers who regularly use digital devices reports higher stress rates and mental health problems compared to those who do not use them
• The 37% of workers who use digital technologies at work reports to try general fatigue
• The 27% I quote stress, anxiety or depression
• 1 worker out of 3 stated that the use of digital devices has increased the workload
• The 19% noted one reduction of autonomy.

Preventive measures and strategies

To stem and face these risks, always the Healthy Workplaces Campaign 2023-2025, suggests adopting the principle STOP which provides:

1. Substitution: replace, where possible, the harmful digital processes with safer alternatives; For example, prefer systems that promote collaboration and not monitoring
2. Technical Protective Measures: adopt technical measures for the protection of respect for privacy and to the adaptive that manages workloads to reduce cognitive stress
3. Organisational Protective Measures: Protective organizational measures that establish clear boundaries around working hours to prevent overload and promote a support work environment
4. Personal Protective Measures: Personal protection measures that promote access to mental health and tools that encourage awareness and self -care.

Part of the responsibility and the solution is in the hands of an efficient corporate strategy providing Regular assessments specifications relating to the psychosocial risks associated with digitization.
HR and Management they must collaborate to promote a work environment that:

1. encourage the open communication
2. provide Mental health support
3. Promote a healthy balance between working and private life.

As a UNBRAVO can support companies in preventing and solving mental disorders due to digitization

Unebravo can be the fundamental ally of companies for the creation of a balance between mental health and productivity and to encourage a corporate culture oriented tothe wellnessdetermining factor for corporate growth in the long run. It can in fact provide support to companies through training and services of psychological support individual and group company.