France’s growing mental health crisis at work Burnout nation

One of the main reasons for the increasing temporary disability and suicides is mental health problems. In turn, these are caused by uncertainty about the future and enormous work overloads.

The workplace as a risk factor

Today, employees in France take sick leave twice as often as they did 10 years ago. At the same time, the second most common cause of disability is psychological problems.

The level of anxiety and depression is growing especially fast among young people, who find it increasingly difficult to find their place in life. According to Le Monde, every fifth French person aged 18–24 suffers from depressive disorder.

Moreover, this trend is intensifying every year. In 2023, almost every second French worker took at least one day of sick leave — this is 14% more compared to even the COVID year of 2021. Meanwhile, “depression and stress” ranked first among the causes of temporary disability that year.

Employees themselves name the following causes of psychological disorders: excessive demands from management — 34%, incompetent leadership — 25%, a difficult atmosphere in the team — 23%, difficulties balancing work and personal life — 19%.

France also ranks among the top in the EU for workplace mortality. This indicator has been rising for 20 years. According to Eurostat, in 2022, the level of workplace mortality in France was twice the EU average. And in 2024, the number of sick leaves due to occupational accidents increased by another 11.3%.

On average, in France, there are two fatal workplace accidents every day.

Trade unions claim that many French workers experience real physical and moral suffering at their workplaces caused by working conditions: night shifts, overtime, high noise levels, pollution, and so on. The result of such stress is illnesses and premature death.

For example, if a driver dies at the age of 50 from a heart attack on the way to work, no one connects this to his frequent night shifts. Trade unions believe that under President Macron, measures were adopted that further undermine the right to health at the workplace.

Statistics on occupational diseases are also seriously underestimated. Cancer incidence is rising in France, and trade unions claim that between 52,000 and 82,000 cases per year are related to harmful working conditions. However, the medical insurance company records only about 2,000 such cases.

Moreover, the statistics do not include self-employed workers, whose numbers are constantly growing in France. For instance, couriers face significant stress and often get into traffic accidents while rushing to complete orders quickly and maintain a high rating with the operator.

According to official data, the professions with the highest mortality rates are security guards, truck drivers, construction workers, restaurant managers, and garbage collectors.

Occupational safety departments are provided by the employer as a service and therefore depend on them. Meanwhile, state labour inspections are continuously being cut back. In 2016, France passed the El Khomri law, which eased working at night and increased the interval between mandatory medical check-ups.

Excessive demands from employers, fear of refusing additional workload, worries about losing one’s job or being transferred to part-time work, and rising utility costs — all of these cause constant psychological stress. The consequences include somatic illnesses and, in some cases, suicides.

Since January 2025, 12 employees have committed suicide at the General Directorate of Public Finances under the French Ministry of Economy. An internal investigation is underway to determine whether these tragedies are connected to their official duties. At the end of 2024, this agency had laid off 4,360 permanent staff members, not counting freelancers.

Coaches against workplace stress

In response, certain measures have been introduced. But what kind? In companies with increasing sick leave rates, management organises self-development courses: seminars like “How to Have a Proper Breakfast” or anti-stress training. “Hotlines” are also launched for employees with psychological problems. However, trade unions criticise this practice: outsourced psychologists do not understand the specifics of the industry or the situation in the particular company. Usually, they give general and hardly useful advice, such as “control your breathing.”

The trend of such “hotlines,” according to many, serves as a cover-up for a systemic crisis in public healthcare. Employers do not want to acknowledge their responsibility for employee burnout, shifting the blame onto the workers themselves. Psychological exhaustion is generally not recognised as an occupational disease.

Suicides of employees who have fallen into depression are more often attributed to personal reasons rather than the harsh conditions at work.

Many workers suffering from psychological disorders are forced to take medications like Lexomil or Xanax, use insomnia apps, and so on.

President Macron generally dislikes discussions about the hardships of work. From the perspective of liberal circles close to him, such terminology is unacceptable.

Experts also cite the ageing workforce among the reasons for the increase in sick leaves. Statistics confirm that older workers fall ill more often. However, it was under Macron that the retirement age was raised to 64. Despite mass protests, trade union demands, and the defeat of Macronists in elections, the government has no intention of revising this reform.

“Healing” employees by cutting sick leave benefits?

The costs of paying sick leave are increasingly burdening the state budget of the Fifth Republic. Meanwhile, France’s national debt has reached a record €3.2 trillion, or 112% of GDP. Recall that the maximum allowable debt level in the EU is 60% of GDP. France ranks third in the EU on this indicator, behind only Greece and Italy.

Against this backdrop, the reaction of employers is quite predictable: instead of genuinely caring for employee health, they increasingly advocate for reducing sick leave payments. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling for the same. The French National Health Insurance Fund is already considering ways to cut spending on sick leave and to revise the compensation system for temporary disability.

In particular, the proposal to stop payments for sick leaves shorter than eight days has already sparked protests from French trade unions…