Well-being in the Workplace: Are We Looking After Ourselves?
- Simone Theiss
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The digital world never really switches off. From my experience, there is always another email to answer, another meeting to prepare for, another deadline to meet, another platform to keep up with. For many women working in digital industries, the pace can feel relentless.
Does this sound familiar to you?
While technology has transformed the way we work, it has also blurred the boundaries between our professional and personal lives. Flexible working has brought enormous opportunities, but it has also made it harder to disconnect. Many of us are juggling careers alongside caregiving responsibilities, navigating life transitions such as pregnancy or menopause, or simply trying to maintain our own health while keeping up with an "always-on" culture.
Mental health is a business issue, not just a personal one
It's no surprise that well-being has become one of the most important conversations in today's workplace. But perhaps it's time to redefine what workplace well-being really means.
Well-being isn't about squeezing in a lunchtime yoga class or downloading another meditation app. Those things can certainly help, but they are not a solution to chronic workplace stress. True well-being is created by the culture we work in, the leaders we work with, and the boundaries we set.
The World Health Organization estimates that around 15% of working-age adults live with a mental health condition, while depression and anxiety contribute to approximately 12 billion lost working days every year, costing the global economy an estimated US$1 trillion in lost productivity. These figures remind us that well-being is not simply a personal issue, it is a workplace issue.
Women continue to experience higher levels of workplace stress
For women, the picture is often even more complex. According to Deloitte's Women @ Work 2024 report, around half of women surveyed reported feeling more stressed than they did a year earlier. Many also described concerns around their physical safety, while others still felt unable to openly discuss issues such as menstrual health, fertility challenges or menopause with their employers. Having managed a women’s healthcare acceleration program, I saw first hand the taboos that still exists around these topics and the lack of programs by employers addressing these women specific issues. These experiences affect far more than productivity; they influence confidence, engagement and ultimately career progression.
Women working in digital industries face some unique pressures. Technology evolves rapidly, requiring continuous learning and adaptation. Hybrid working has increased flexibility, yet many professionals struggle to establish clear boundaries between work and home. Add the pressure of constant online visibility, virtual meetings across multiple time zones, and the expectation to remain connected, and it becomes easy to see why burnout has become such a common topic of conversation.
It's time to rethink what workplace well-being really means
It starts with permission: permission to take a proper lunch break, protect thinking time, say "I'm at capacity," and log off without guilt.
But well-being is about more than individual resilience. For too long, we have encouraged women to simply become better at coping, as though burnout is a personal failing. The reality is that we can't meditate away unrealistic workloads or self-care our way out of unhealthy workplace cultures.
Real well-being is created by organisations that value trust, flexibility and psychological safety. It's built by leaders who check in before people burn out, measure outcomes rather than hours online, and create workplaces where conversations about women's health and mental well-being are normal and not taboo.
Feeling supported at work also means having opportunities to grow. McKinsey's Women in the Workplace research continues to show that women remain underrepresented in senior leadership, with one of the biggest barriers occurring at the first step into management. Career progression isn't just about ambition, it influences confidence, financial well-being and our sense of purpose.
As individuals, we can protect our boundaries by switching off notifications, making space for focused work and giving ourselves permission to disconnect. But organisations have an equally important role to play. The workplaces that attract and retain talented women won't simply offer wellness initiatives, they will build cultures where people genuinely feel seen, heard and supported.
Women don't leave organisations because they lack resilience, too often, they leave because the way work is designed makes thriving unsustainable.
As women shaping the future of digital work, let's also shape workplaces where success isn't measured by how long we are online, but by the impact we create and the energy we still have for the lives we lead beyond the screen.
Don’t miss our next webinar on September 17th to learn about the early warning signs, practical strategies to sustain well-being over time and how to create more human-centered ways of working and leading.
Reading & Sources:
World Health Organization. Mental Health at Work.
Deloitte. Women @ Work: A Global Outlook 2024. (The press release you linked is titled Deloitte's Women @ Work report shows stagnating progress in and outside the workplace for women, but the report itself is Women @ Work: A Global Outlook 2024.)
McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org. Women in the Workplace 2024: The 10th-Anniversary Report.
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