More than half (51%) of businesses in Germany have observed increased mental strain or stress among their employees over the previous 12 months, largely driven by economic uncertainty, according to a new Randstad-ifo HR survey.
As the survey noted, 49% of firms cited uncertainty due to the economic situation or order development as a stress factor, while 45% attributed increased stress to change processes within the company.
Other factors included high workloads or time pressure, cited by 37% of companies, and staff shortages, cited by 35%.
Larger businesses, i.e. those with between 250 and 499 employees, were most likely to report increased mental strain, with 73% observing higher stress among their workforce. This compares with 57% of companies employing between 50 and 249 people, 53% of companies with 500 or more employees, and 38% of companies with up to 49 employees.
Increased workload
The rise in stress levels isn’t necessarily linked to an increased workload either, the data showed, with just 38% of companies reporting an increase in workload over the previous year. Some 41% said workloads had remained unchanged and 21% reported a decrease.
“Mental stress should therefore not be reduced to the resilience of employees,” commented Verena Menne, human resources director DACH, at Randstad. “It’s about far more than just how well or poorly someone can cope with a high workload. Uncertain prospects, changes within the company, and limited personnel resources also create pressure that is stressful but harder to quantify than a high workload.
“Employers must therefore consider the conditions under which people work – and not just the individual’s ability to deal with stressors.”
Change processes
As company size increases, change processes can become a more frequent source of stress, the survey found. Change processes were cited as a driver of mental strain by close to a third (30%) of small companies, i.e. those with up to 49 employees. This increased to 46% among companies with 50 to 249 employees, 63% among companies with 250 to 499 employees and 65% among companies with 500 or more employees.
“Mental health is not just an individual issue, but also a leadership and organisational one,” Menne added. “While leadership cannot eliminate economic uncertainty, it can prevent a lack of direction from creating additional pressure.
“This requires reliable communication – even when not every answer is yet certain – clear priorities, and work planning that realistically considers time constraints and staffing shortages. Especially in larger organisations, it is therefore crucial to communicate changes transparently and to keep track of their impact on workflows and capacity.”
The Randstad-ifo HR survey is conducted quarterly by the ifo Institute on behalf of Randstad. The Q2 2026 survey questioned between 500 and 1,000 HR managers at German companies across different sizes and industries. Read more here.
