Workplace anxiety is back to peak pandemic level, notes Mercer's Dora Chang
Tariff threats continue to inject uncertainty into the workplace and employers across all sectors are increasingly grappling with their workers’ anxiety over job security and financial stability.
For Dora Chang, national practice lead, transformation and communication Canada at Mercer, the atmosphere feels uncomfortably familiar.
“A lot of the conversations I’m having are reminiscent of the ones I had at the start of the pandemic,” she said. “There was so much uncertainty, no one really knew what to expect.”
Chang explained that while the root causes of today’s disruption differ, the impact on employees’ emotional well-being is eerily similar.
“Anxiety isn’t a new thing,” she said. “There’s an underlying level of anxiety that people have been feeling even before the current environment... now anxiety levels have hugely risen.”
The lack of clarity around what comes next, particularly in industries like auto manufacturing, has prompted employers to consider tough workforce decisions, from furloughs to layoffs. But the uncertainty doesn’t only affect corporate strategy. It deeply shapes employee morale and trust, emphasized Chang.
“Some of my clients are not getting questions directly, but they’re hearing that there’s noise,” she said. “When you don’t proactively communicate, people end up kind of filling a vacuum of silence with rumours.”
That’s why she’s reminds and recommends employers revisit the lessons they learned during the pandemic. In her view, the companies that communicated frequently, transparently, and empathetically came through with stronger employee loyalty. She believes this moment is no different.
“Trust in any relationship, it’s earned over time. It can be broken so quickly,” she said.
Chang is blunt about the consequences of mishandling internal communications during moments of stress. The warning isn’t meant as a scare tactic but rather it’s a reflection of how quickly a poorly managed internal decision can escalate into a reputational crisis.
“There is a right way to go about doing it... treating people with respect and honesty,” she said.
When asked which strategies matter most in the short term, according to Mercer’s recent insights to best manage workplace anxiety, Chang zeroes in on three: centralized information, visible leadership, and manager training.
“If you have information that you need to share with employees in the short term, make sure it’s easy to find,” she said. “Don’t make people click a million links on a million different sites to get there.”
Leadership visibility is equally critical, she added. Chang believes the impact of a strong or poor manager can be felt in an employee’s day-to-day experience.
“You don’t have to be communicating decisions every time you talk to employees... but even just being visible and letting them know that you’re there,” she said.
“It makes people not want to go to work when they don’t have a good boss,” she added, noting that many managers are promoted for technical ability but lack foundational people management training. This includes skills like giving feedback, managing underperformance, navigating compensation decisions, and avoiding favoritism.
“A lot of people managers get promoted into that role because they’re strong technically... but they’ve never really been trained from a people perspective,” she said.
While messaging from the top is important, the daily experience of employees often hinges on their direct manager. Chang emphasized that upskilling people managers has become the top HR priority across industries.
“Businesses have kind of started to finally realize the importance of the people manager role,” she said, arguing that communication, empathy, and performance management should be fundamental competencies.
While many companies already provide strong employee wellbeing programs, like employee assistance plans (EAPs), those offerings are often underutilized simply because awareness hasn’t kept up.
“I don't think people know about even a fraction of the things that EAP programs are offering today, and they look completely different than they did five years ago,” she explained, emphasizing the need for centralized, easy-to-access information and stronger promotion of available resources.
“Promoting those programs should definitely be at the top of the list,” she added.
She also highlighted a growing trend in telemedicine and preventative care services like executive-style medical checkups which are becoming more accessible to broader employee groups as costs come down. These services, she explained, are critical in managing long-term health risks and supporting overall workforce resilience.
“Telemedicine services are important, especially for people who are finding it hard to find a primary care physician,” she noted.
Additionally, to understand how employees are feeling, employers have utilized pulse surveys as a go-to strategy. But Chang cautions employers to be intentional.
“Stay away from asking people how you’re feeling, because I think it’s pretty obvious,” she said. “If you can make it focused enough that you can get some actionable insights out of it, that’s how you should really be using pulse surveys.”
Chang ultimately believes it comes down to trust.
“Remember that any strong relationship is built on trust and open communication,” she said. “That’s true in your personal lives, and it’s also true when you are the leader of a company with your workforce. Remember that people are people, and they're going through a tough time.”
