Swiss CEOs focus on mental health
Mental health problems are increasingly affecting Swiss people at work - with serious consequences for the performance of companies and the economy as a whole. In the new video initiative "The Cost of Silence", eleven courageous CEOs from leading Swiss companies break their silence.
To mark Mental Health Awareness Month, the initiative "The Cost of Silence" brought together eleven Swiss CEOs. They were invited without knowing the concept or the questions in advance. Each question was based on real-life experiences from everyday working life - such as taking a short rest on the toilet from exhaustion. Of over 100 CEOs asked, eleven agreed - and spoke openly. Their unvarnished response: the pressure is real - and it is omnipresent.
Still a taboo: mental health
Every 35 seconds, someone in Switzerland is on sick leave due to mental stress. Someone suffers burnout every 90 seconds [1]. Although awareness is increasing, mental health is still often taboo, especially in the workplace.
The economic consequences are devastating: it is estimated that the loss of productivity due to mental illness costs CHF 17.3 billion a year [2] - this corresponds to around 2 percent of Swiss GDP [3]. This is bad news in times when international competitiveness requires resilience and top performance.
"Managing mental health is a corporate strategy," says Nathalie Agosti, one of the campaign's initiators. "This communication initiative aims to break the taboo among Switzerland's dedicated workforce and position mental health as an important performance factor to make Switzerland fit for the future."
The pressure is particularly high at C-level: more than one in three managers are operating in survival mode due to excessive stress. Claire Garwacki, initiator of the campaign, experiences this on a daily basis: "At every meeting, one to two thirds of participants are too exhausted to be fully present and perform [4]. This is a huge productivity killer - and it's high time we talked about it."
The Cost of Silence" campaign
The campaign "The Cost of Silence" was initiated by Nathalie Agosti, founder of Outlive Advisory, and Claire Garwacki, founder of Bellevue Executive Search. They already caused a stir in 2024 with their "In Her Chair" initiative. In the new campaign, eleven CEOs from the Swiss business world are confronted on camera with real facts and anecdotes about mental health at work. The aim of the campaign is to break the taboo and raise awareness of the fact that good mental health is an important performance factor.
The following CEOs took part in the campaign:
- Nora Teuwsen, ABB Switzerland
- Denis Machuel, Adecco Group
- Florian Saur, Astra Zeneca Switzerland
- Patricia Mattle, Elipslife
- Marc Werner, Galenica Group
- Felix Graf, NZZ Media Group
- Billy Kneubühl, Oracle Switzerland
- Muriel Langenberger, Pro Mente Sana
- Achim von Leoprechting, Tecan Group
- Tina Müller, Weleda
- Peter Spirig, formerly V-ZUG
Companies are part of the solution
Effective solutions go beyond individual resilience training. When companies establish mental health guidelines, the proportion of employees with mental health problems is reduced by half (from 16% to 8%) [5].
"Neglecting mental health costs us more than we want to admit. But if companies focus on empathy, raise awareness and create a proactive culture, mental health can become an important driver of returns," explains Patricia Mattle, CEO of Elipslife. According to a report by Gallup [6] companies with a high level of employee engagement achieve 147 percent higher earnings per share than those with a low level of engagement.
Managers are therefore needed to lead by example and create an environment in which people remain healthy in the long term: "Companies that make space for mental health and cultivate an open culture have been proven to benefit from fewer sick days, higher motivation, stronger teams and sustainable productivity," says Muriel Langenberger, Managing Director of the Pro Mente Sana Foundation, which has been working to break the taboo on mental illness for decades. "Mental health is not a luxury - it is the prerequisite for functioning cooperation, both in society and in the company." Those who recognize this and act now will secure a decisive competitive advantage.
Notes:
[1] These figures are based on the following data: Employed persons in Switzerland: 5,327,000 people (source: Federal Statistical Office); of which 17 % were on sick leave due to mental health problems, 7 % suffered burnout (source: AXA Mind Health Report 2024)
[2] AXA, "Mental health: Poor marks for employers"
[3] Calculation basis: GDP 2023: CHF 803.6 billion (source: Federal Statistical Office)
[4] Susan Goldworthy, "The leadership burnout crisis"
[5] AXA, Mind Health Report 2025
[6] Gallup Business Journal, "How Employee Engagement Drives Growth"
