Stressed-out City workers are to be quizzed about their health worries

Stressed-out City workers will be quizzed about their health worries to find out what help they need.

The City of London Corporation will work with businesses in the Square Mile and their senior human resources staff to develop a picture of some of the issues.

Since it last carried out research into workers’ health needs in 2012, the number of jobs has increased from 360,000 to nearly half a million.

Zenia Koumi, from the Corporation’s department of community and children’s services said: “The vote to leave the EU has created an environment of uncertainty in the City, particularly among the larger, multi-national companies employing many EU nationals.”

At the same time, there has been an increase in mental health awareness.

Ms Koumi added: “Despite the major shifts, we suspect that many of the key issues - namely mental health and alcohol [and] substance misuse and smoking - will still be pertinent to City workers. What may have changed is how City workers view these issues and how receptive they may be to interventions.”

These include help to stop smoking or cut back on drinking.

The second part of the process will involve in-depth research with focus groups, discussions and telephone interviews.

It will publish its results in March next year.

The Corporation runs the Dragon Cafe in the City at its Shoe Lane Library to support mental wellbeing and Business Healthy for company bosses to improve their employees’ well-being.

Common councilman Jeremy Simons told last Friday’s health and well-being board, which approved the research: “I think it’s very important to get trends over time, not just individual snapshots, so we can get a feel for what are the principle concerns over time.”