Only 5% raise stress with managers

A new survey from workplace health and safety provider Astutis indicates that few employees see their manager as the right person to approach about stress, raising questions about leadership capability and psychological safety.

The report, based on responses from 553 UK workers, found that just 4.7% would speak to their manager about stress, and only 1.3% would approach senior leadership. In contrast, 43.6% confide in a partner and 12.8% in friends.

The findings were released as the Health and Safety Executive reported that 964,000 workers experienced work-related stress, depression or anxiety in the last year.

Beyond personal wellbeing, the survey points to organisational risk. Among respondents, 63.2% said they had considered leaving their job due to stress, 52.6% reported making mistakes, and 32.9% had clashed with colleagues. More than a quarter had called in sick or missed deadlines.

While self-reported and not presented as nationally representative, the data suggests stress is affecting retention, performance and collaboration. For L&D leaders, that reframes the issue from employee resilience to managerial effectiveness.

If employees bypass managers when under pressure, the issue may not simply be stress levels, but confidence in leadership response.

Key questions for organisations include:

• Are line managers trained to identify and respond to stress signals?
• Do they have the confidence to hold mental health conversations?
• Are they empowered to adjust workload or priorities?
• Is psychological safety consistently reinforced at team level?

Steve Terry, Managing Director at Astutis, argues that managers are positioned to address root causes such as workload and process design, rather than simply offering reassurance. The company promotes leadership and well-being training as part of the response.

More broadly, the findings reinforce a trend already visible across the learning sector, the expanding scope of the line manager role. Coaching capability, judgement under pressure and the ability to create safe team environments are increasingly core requirements rather than optional extras.

The survey does not claim to provide a national benchmark. However, it adds to growing evidence that psychological safety is moving from theory to operational expectation.

If only 5% of employees turn to their manager when stressed, organisations may need to reassess whether their leadership development reflects the realities of modern work.

Report download
The full report is available from Astutis: The Silent Stress Epidemic | Workers Confide in Friends, Not Managers