According to the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter’s latest mental health and wellbeing survey, this is up from 36 per cent in the prior year.
This is the fourth year of the survey and aims to highlight the current wellbeing of the sector and areas that need improvement.
The report continued that around 16 per cent of brokers thought their mental wellbeing was poor or of concern. This is an improvement on 23 per cent last year.
Approximately 37 per cent said their mental wellbeing was good and seven per cent said it was excellent. This is an increase from 41 per cent cumulatively last year.
However, the report added that 44 per cent are not happy with their professional situation, with 15 per cent within that figure saying they were disillusioned and considering their options.
Just under a third said they were happy with how things were going and around a quarter said that they loved what they did, and their career was progressing well.
Mental health support improving but more needed
Around 58 per cent said that companies offered mental health support, which is slightly up from 54 per cent last year.
Nearly 30 per cent said no mental health support or wellbeing strategy was in place. This is down from 46 per cent overall last year.
Around 46 per cent said workplace mental health support had improved, 26 per cent said it had not and 28 per cent said they didn’t know.
When asked what the most important factors for health and wellbeing are, 69 per cent said a happy relationship with their partner, 45 per cent pointed to enough sleep and rest and 43 per cent cited fitness and diet.
Brokers working hours more varied and sleep inconsistent
Approximately 58 per cent of brokers work more than 45 hours a week. This is an increase from 56 per cent in the prior survey.
The report added that 41 per cent of brokers said that they worked less than 45 hours, which is down from 44 per cent last year.
There are fewer brokers working longer than 60 hours a week, falling from 13 per cent to 12 per cent.
The report said that brokers were saying that they were overworked and that excessive working hours could lead to “decreased productivity and burnout” and have a detrimental impact on mental health and wellbeing.
Regarding sleep, only seven per cent of those surveyed said that they managed to get enough sleep every night of the week, which is an increase from two per cent previously.
Around 18 per cent said they did not get any sleep on any night of the week, a decrease from 27 per cent last year, and only 42 per cent get enough sleep for at least two days a week, which is a fall from 55 per cent.
Work life balance and working arrangements broadly better
A third of those surveyed said that their work-life balance had somewhat improved since the pandemic, 17 per cent said it had improved. The latter has more than doubled from seven per cent in 2022.
Fewer brokers feel that their work life balance has worsened, going from 30 per cent to 24 per cent.
Regarding working arrangements and its impact on mental health, 38 per cent said that it had stayed the same, which is roughly in line with 42 per cent last year.
Around half said that the working arrangements had greatly or somewhat improved their mental health.
Approximately 12 per cent has somewhat or greatly worsened.
Around half said that October to December was the most stressful period, pointing to the mini Budget and widespread repricing, product withdrawals and confusion.
This is a significant increase on previous quarters, with January to March pegged at 19 per cent, April to June pegged at 11 per cent and July to September coming to 22 per cent.
‘Only marginal progess made’
Jason Berry, group sales director at Crystal Specialist Finance and co-founder of MIMHC, commented: “Overall levels of contentment remain similar to 2022 and frustratingly suggest only marginal progress has been made.
“MIMHC’s main aim over the last 12 months has been to encourage companies to incept mental health or well-being initiatives and although it is encouraging to see 58 per cent of respondents now indicate something is in place, the results continue to demonstrate our sector has a lot of work to do. Too many people continue to suffer in silence with zero support.”
