--- title: Stayconomics Brief - Edition 10 description: "After World Mental Health Day, this edition asks what supporting mental health means beyond awareness: workload, fatigue, AI uncertainty, 2027 retirement-plan limits and workplace accommodations." image: https://hi.sideup.com/hubfs/The%20Stayconomics%20Brief_%20Edition%2010-1.png --- [![logo](https://hi.sideup.com/hubfs/Brand/logo.svg)](https://hi.sideup.com/?hsLang=en) - Solutions Pre-tax Benefits IRS-compliant, pre-tax benefits for core needs. - [Student Loan & Tuition Smarter education funding](https://hi.sideup.com/student-loan-repayment-benefits?hsLang=en) - [Commuter Pre-tax transit & parking](https://hi.sideup.com/commuting?hsLang=en) - [HRA Health Reimbursement Arrangement](https://hi.sideup.com/hra?hsLang=en) - [Family Care Real support for caregivers](https://hi.sideup.com/family-care?hsLang=en) Lifestyle Spending Accounts Flexible, post-tax benefits for modern life. - [Wellness & Fitness Gym, mental health & wellbeing](https://hi.sideup.com/wellness-fitness?hsLang=en) - [Work From Home Home office & remote setup](https://hi.sideup.com/work-from-home?hsLang=en) - [Food Meals, groceries & nutrition](https://hi.sideup.com/food?hsLang=en) - [Utilities & Essential Bills Internet, phone & household bills](https://hi.sideup.com/utilities-essentials-bills?hsLang=en) - Platform For Employers - [Manage Benefits Streamline your benefits administration](https://hi.sideup.com/how-to-manage-benefits?hsLang=en) - [Integrations Connect with your favourite tools](https://hi.sideup.com/integrations?hsLang=en) - [Trust Security, Privacy and Compliance](https://hi.sideup.com/trust?hsLang=en) For Employees - [How to spend benefits Discover how to use your SideUp card](https://hi.sideup.com/how-to-spend-your-benefits?hsLang=en) - [Stayconomics](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics) Learn with Stayconomics Explore the ideas, research, and strategies behind workplaces people choose to stay in. 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I have seen mental health challenges affect talented people, and I have seen incredible employees leave because of them. Those experiences have made me think more carefully about the way we lead โ€” and about the limits we need to understand before asking people to keep pushing. Recent research gives that conversation urgency. Financial pressure, fatigue and uncertainty about AI are part of today's employee experience. The response needs to go beyond telling people to be resilient: it means examining workloads, creating room for honest conversations and making support accessible. We can be ambitious about growth while being more thoughtful about how we achieve it. โ€” Emma Olie --- ## ๐Ÿ“Š This Week in Workplace Data ย  27% Workers in PwC's Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey said feeling fatigued or burned out limited their productivity. Published **September 29**, the survey covered 49,364 workers in 48 countries and regions, with fieldwork in Mayโ€“June.\[2\] This is a self-reported experience, not a clinical diagnosis or a measure of diagnosed mental illness. [Source โ€” PwC, Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026](https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2026/companies-risk-losing-ai-savvy-employees.html) 34% In the same PwC survey, only 34% could pay their bills and still have money left at month-end โ€” eight percentage points fewer than a year earlier.\[2\] Financial pressure deserves attention alongside workload when employers consider what support employees need. [Source โ€” PwC, Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey 2026](https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2026/companies-risk-losing-ai-savvy-employees.html) 42% Only 42% of employees in Workday's six-country AI@Work study trusted their employer to use AI in a way that benefits employees, not only the organization. The **September 22** report used an August survey of 5,944 workers across Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US.\[3\] Trust matters when people are being asked to adapt. [Source โ€” Workday, AI@Work survey](https://www.workday.com/en-us/perspectives/ai/ai-at-work-september.html) **The takeaway:** Ask what people are carrying, not just what they are producing. These findings come from different multi-market samples; they do not show that AI causes mental health conditions or that a particular benefit prevents them. --- ## ๐ŸŒ Workplace Headlines ### 1. World Mental Health Day: Listening Needs to Change Decisions (WHO) The 2026 campaign's theme is **"Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change."** WHO calls for people with lived experience of mental health conditions to help shape the policies, services and decisions that affect them โ€” not simply be invited to tell their stories.\[1\] That offers a useful principle for employers: listening should influence what happens next. Ask whether support is easy to access and whether the way work is organized creates avoidable pressure. Give employees a safe, voluntary way to contribute without requiring them to share diagnoses or personal stories publicly. A conversation matters more when people can see what changed because of it. [Read the WHO campaign โ†’](https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2026) ### 2. Fatigue Is Already Limiting Work โ€” and Development Needs Space (PwC) PwC's September survey found that **27%** of respondents said fatigue or feeling burned out limited their productivity, while access to needed learning and development resources fell from **59% to 51%**.\[2\] The same report found that **29%** of PwC's *front-runners* โ€” a defined group with scarce skills and strong AI capabilities โ€” said they were very or extremely likely to change employer in the next year. That is stated intention, not observed turnover, and the research does not establish that mental health explains those intentions.\[2\] Together, the findings raise a practical leadership question: are we creating capacity for people to grow, or adding development to an already full workload? Protect learning time and make priorities explicit. When something new is added, discuss what can be reduced or stopped. [Read the PwC research โ†’](https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2026/companies-risk-losing-ai-savvy-employees.html) ### 3. AI Rollouts Need a Human Capacity Check (Workday and WHO) Workday found that **37%** of respondents had not spoken with their manager in the previous three months about how AI was changing their role. Among individual contributors, that rose to **53%**.\[3\] That is a communication gap, not evidence of a mental health diagnosis. But it is a reason to make change less uncertain. Explain what tools are for, which decisions remain human and how expectations will change. Measure actual time recovered after checking and rework โ€” not only adoption. WHO identifies excessive workloads, unclear roles and low control over work as risks to mental health. Its recommendations include changing working conditions and training managers to listen and respond to distress.\[4\] Supporting people through an AI rollout should therefore include examining the work itself, not simply adding a wellbeing resource at the end. [Read the Workday research โ†’](https://www.workday.com/en-us/perspectives/ai/ai-at-work-september.html) [Read WHO's workplace guidance โ†’](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work) --- ## ๐ŸŒŽ Around the World | ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States | **2027 retirement-plan limits: still awaiting the numbers.** Treasury and the IRS' initial 2026โ€“2027 Priority Guidance Plan, released **September 29**, lists a November notice for 2027 qualified-retirement-plan benefit and contribution limits. As of the **October 8** check, the actual 2027 dollar limits had not been published. This is an agenda item, not the limits themselves; benefits and payroll teams should wait for the official notice before changing plan settings.\[5\] [Read the IRS plan โ†’](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-counsel/2026-2027-initial-pgp.pdf) | | --- | --- | | ๐Ÿ‡บ๐Ÿ‡ธ United States | **Mental health support includes workplace accommodations โ€” not just benefits.** As a reminder of existing guidance, the Department of Labor explains that reasonable accommodations for qualified employees with mental health disabilities are individualized and should begin with the employee's input. Examples include adjusted schedules, breaks, reduced distractions and changes to non-essential duties. Not everyone with a mental health condition needs an accommodation, and no single adjustment fits every role. Make the request process clear and connect managers with HR when support is needed.\[6\] [Read the DOL guidance โ†’](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/mental-health/maximizing-productivity-accommodations-for-employees-with-psychiatric-disabilities) | | ๐ŸŒ Global | **Knowing what to learn is not the same as having support.** Workday's Global Workforce Report, released **October 5**, found that 79% of employees knew which skills they needed, but only 66% said their employer helped them develop those skills. The figures come from a separate September survey of 6,001 employees and business leaders โ€” not a new wave of the August AI@Work study.\[7\] Protect development time rather than expecting employees to fit learning around an unchanged workload. [Read the new report โ†’](https://newsroom.workday.com/2026-10-05-Workday-Global-Workforce-Report-AI-Is-Rewriting-Jobs-More-Than-Its-Cutting-Them) | --- ## ๐Ÿ“š Featured Articles ### Featured posts ย  --- ## ๐ŸŽ™ Podcast of the Week The HR Technology Trends 2026: AI is Expanding Jobs, Not Replacing Them This week's episode looks at why AI adoption in HR is correlating with workforce growth rather than cuts, and what that means for how HR teams plan headcount and skills for 2026. [๐ŸŽง Listen on Spotify โ†’](https://spotifycreators-web.app.link/e/fozLXGaQ35b) ## ๐Ÿ“… Events & Webinars We have no events scheduled this week. Stay tuned โ€” new webinars and meetups will be announced soon. [See all events & past webinars โ†’](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/events-webinars?hsLang=en) --- ## ๐Ÿ’ก Founders Perspective "I have seen what happens when mental health struggles affect people at work, and I have seen incredible employees leave because of them. That has stayed with me. Over the past few months, I have been making a conscious effort to learn more, question how I lead and understand where the limits are โ€” not to lower our ambition, but to find a healthier way to achieve it. I am still learning. For me, that means listening more carefully, being willing to change how we work and taking people's limits seriously. I want us to achieve great results with people who are healthy and supported โ€” not at the expense of their wellbeing." โ€” Emma Olie --- ## ๐Ÿ’œ About SideUp People do not experience workplace pressure in isolation. Caring responsibilities, student debt and everyday costs can sit alongside demanding work. Relevant benefits can be one part of a more supportive employee experience โ€” but they cannot compensate for unmanageable workloads or replace professional mental health care. **SideUp helps US employers make support more relevant and easier to manage.** Its offering includes eligible IRS-compliant pre-tax benefits for student-loan and tuition assistance, commuting, health reimbursement arrangements and family care, alongside taxable Lifestyle Spending Accounts for everyday needs.\[8\] Eligible wellness spending can include counseling, therapy and mental wellness apps, according to the employer's plan.\[9\] Tax treatment depends on the benefit's rules and plan design. For candidates, meaningful choice can make an offer more personal. For employees, it can make support easier to use. Benefits administration, recognition, integrations and eNPS help HR manage the experience and listen to employee sentiment.\[8\] **eNPS is not a mental health assessment**, and employee feedback should not be used to infer a diagnosis. The opportunity is to combine practical support with healthier working conditions: a workplace where people can contribute, grow and have good reasons to stay. [Discover SideUp โ†’](https://hi.sideup.com/home?hsLang=en) [Book a 15-minute demo โ†’](https://meetings-eu1.hubspot.com/lana-leles/demo) --- ## References [\[1\] WHO โ€” World Mental Health Day 2026: Lived Experiences Heard, Real Voices, Real Change](https://www.who.int/campaigns/world-mental-health-day/2026) [\[2\] PwC โ€” Companies Risk Losing Their Most AI-Savvy Employees While Leaving Majority Behind (September 29, 2026)](https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/news-room/press-releases/2026/companies-risk-losing-ai-savvy-employees.html) [\[3\] Workday โ€” AI Adoption Is Moving Faster Than Employee Trust (September 22, 2026)](https://www.workday.com/en-us/perspectives/ai/ai-at-work-september.html) [\[4\] WHO โ€” Mental Health at Work (September 15, 2026)](https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-at-work) [\[5\] U.S. Treasury and IRS โ€” Initial 2026โ€“2027 Priority Guidance Plan](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-counsel/2026-2027-initial-pgp.pdf) [\[6\] U.S. Department of Labor โ€” Accommodations for Employees with Mental Health Conditions](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/odep/program-areas/mental-health/maximizing-productivity-accommodations-for-employees-with-psychiatric-disabilities) [\[7\] Workday โ€” Global Workforce Report: AI Is Rewriting Jobs More Than It's Cutting Them (October 5, 2026)](https://newsroom.workday.com/2026-10-05-Workday-Global-Workforce-Report-AI-Is-Rewriting-Jobs-More-Than-Its-Cutting-Them) [\[8\] SideUp โ€” Flexible Employee Benefits Platform](https://hi.sideup.com/home?hsLang=en) [\[9\] SideUp โ€” Wellness and Fitness Benefits](https://hi.sideup.com/wellness-fitness?hsLang=en) [Newsletter](https://hi.sideup.com/stayconomics/tag/newsletter) ### Enjoyed this article? 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