Mental Health Awareness Week is an annual event organized by The Mental Health Foundation. It will take place between 12 th and 16 thMay 2025.
The aim of the event is to bring together the UK to discuss the importance mental health.
Diverse experts have used this occasion to highlight the need for the finance industry to prioritize mental health and well-being. The move follows new research that highlights key challenges facing the finance sector in terms of wellbeing.
A survey of 1,000 UK finance executives commissioned by iplicit found that 40% admitted to feeling stressed at work “often or always”, with another 42% admitting to feeling stressed “sometimes”.
Overwork is a major challenge for the finance team. 93% of employees say they work longer hours than their contracts allow, and 32% claim that these extra hours add up to an unpaid day per month. Gartner’s separate research also revealed that one third of accountants confess to making “at least” a few financial mistakes a week due to being overstretched.
Javed Robert, the founder and CEO F =@#!, addressed the increasing levels of burnout and stress among finance teams. Mental Health states: “Finance professionals have higher levels of stress and anxiety than other industries.”
The finance function has become increasingly important to businesses over the last 15-20 years. This has led to increased pressure, expectations and demands. In finance, there’s a culture that is obsessed with perfection. Even small mistakes can have a significant impact.
The research by iplicit sheds some light on the stress factors that affect finance teams. The respondents cited the lack of staff resources (28%) and budget constraints (28%) as their top reasons for stress. They were followed by responsibilities outside of finance (24%) team management (24%) financial uncertainty (20%), and fraud and security risks (19%).
The importance of community
This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is centered around the theme ‘community.’ It will focus on the importance of creating safe and positive communities to improve mental health.
Javed Bobat says that finding communities, whether they are within a profession, an organisation or even outside of work, can be a great help to finance teams.
He adds, “I see finance professionals craving connection.” In the post-Covid era, people still want to interact with their colleagues in person or via events or networks. I’ve experienced the benefits of creating communities for finance professionals, and have seen how they have helped people personally, professionally and emotionally.
Signs of burnout
Burnout is increasing in the UK according to statistics released by Mental Health UK. According to a survey of 4,000 adults, one in three adults experienced high or extreme stress or pressure “always” and “often” during the past year. Burnout is a risk for people who are under constant stress.
Ildiko SpinFisher advises employers and employees to be aware of the early signs that burnout is occurring.
She says, “Burnout can come on suddenly and without warning.” When it occurs, you cannot function, work, or even face people. It’s fine to have anxiety symptoms or a lack of sleep for a few days or even if it lasts a week. When it lasts for several months, people continue to say “Oh, well, I will cope, everything will be fine”, when in fact it is not.
Modeling the right behavior
Haydan Firth is an Executive Leadership Coach and fractional head of People and Culture. He advises finance leaders that they should lead by example in addressing stress and burnout within their teams.
He says, “You must lead with an air vulnerability”. If you don’t take care of yourself, then you cannot be authentic. You may tell your team that you do not want them to work long hours, but if they see you online at 7pm they will start to question whether you are testing them.
Olivia McMillan, COO of iplicit, concludes that “our own research confirms what many people already suspected – finance is a career under enormous pressure.” The stress is a result of both the workload and the staff shortages. This has affected the outlooks for the future.
“80% of UK Finance Leaders are concerned about the growing shortage of talent in the accounting/finance sector and the skills gap that is resulting.” We must prioritise the wellbeing of finance professionals and create a safe environment for them to deal with their stress and burnout before it is too late.
The original version of this article, Mental Health Awareness Week – Experts warn against burnout in the finance sector and give tips to employers, appeared first on HR News.
