Social sustainability: too much stress at work and too little trust in employees

Italian workers are the most stressed in Europe: more than 63% believe their job is mentally demanding or stressful, compared with a European average of 56%. At the same time, only 43% of companies say they actively promote employees’ mental health, a figure that places Italy among the least attentive countries on the continent, far behind the United Kingdom (75%) and Ireland (73%).

This is the paradox at the heart of the Social Sustainability Monitor 2025, a study conducted by the SDA Bocconi Sustainability Lab using data collected by SD Worx in 16 European countries. The survey involved 16,000 employees and 5,625 employers, with the aim of exploring the social dimension of sustainability—the one that concerns well-being “inside company walls.”

What emerges is a picture of Italy marked by limited attention to psycho-physical well-being, low trust in flexibility, and still-weak support for older workers. Yet these critical issues also conceal opportunities for growth: investing in well-being, inclusion, and training can translate into greater productivity, engagement, and competitive continuity over the medium to long term.

How are European workers doing?

After years in which the “E” of ESG captured most of the attention with a focus on emissions and environmental impacts, the “S” (Social) is finally demanding to be taken seriously. The Monitor was created to fill this knowledge gap, analyzing the link between corporate strategy, human capital, and social sustainability.

The starting questions are simple but relevant: How are European workers doing? Are companies really taking care of their well-being? And how aligned are the perceptions of firms and employees on issues such as training, trust, pay equity, inclusion, and intergenerational support?

The second edition of the Monitor broadens the perspective from Italy to Europe as a whole, at a time marked by profound transformations in work (digitalization, an aging workforce, new forms of flexibility) and by an evolving regulatory framework (from the Pay Transparency Directive to the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive).

Italy below the average

The survey focused on four key areas: Talent & People, Payroll & Reward, Workplace Flexibility, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion.

The results, broken down by country, age, gender, and company size, portray a Europe full of contradictions, with Italy almost always below the average.

Well-being and mental health. Only 22% of Italian companies say they actively promote employee well-being, compared with 29% at the European level. Employees’ perceptions are slightly better (39.3% of Italian workers believe companies take care of this, versus 46% in Europe), but the gap still signals a cultural lag. It is therefore no surprise that Italy ranks first for work-related stress and last for mental health initiatives. Stress affects women most (58%) and workers aged 35–54, and increases with company size: in large firms, it exceeds 59%.

Training and development. Italian companies report investing in training more than the European average (65% versus 57%), but only 29% of employees perceive these investments, one of the lowest rates in Europe. Women and workers over 55 report fewer growth opportunities, highlighting both a gender and a generational gap.

Flexibility and trust. When it comes to remote work, the gap is stark: only 44% of Italian companies believe employees work responsibly when they are not in the office (compared with 63.7% in the UK and a European average of 50%). Employees, by contrast, are more optimistic: 55% believe companies trust them, and 63% say working from home improves work–life balance. This perception gap reflects a model still grounded in control rather than empowerment.

Equity and pay. Seventy-six percent of Italian companies claim to pay their employees fairly, yet almost half of workers (48%) feel underpaid, in line with the European average. Pay transparency—which will soon become a regulatory requirement with the Pay Transparency Directive—is still limited: only 20% of companies say they have transparent practices.

Inclusion and diversity. In Italy, 54% of workers have witnessed or experienced discrimination at work, a figure in line with the European average. Discrimination is perceived more strongly by women (55%), workers over 55 (60%), and employees in large companies (57%). From the corporate side, only 24% say they actively promote diversity and equity, compared with 39% of workers who perceive commitment in this area.

Support for senior workers. Just 14% of Italian companies say they have specific policies for employees over 55 (20% is the EU average), and only 28% of workers confirm the existence of initiatives in their favor. This is a paradox in a country where, according to Istat, workers over 50 account for more than 10 million employed people—the highest share in Europe.

Four directions for the future

The Social Sustainability Monitor identifies four key directions for the future:

• Make social sustainability a strategic priority. Companies that invest in employee well-being and inclusion reap tangible benefits in terms of engagement and productivity.
• Rethink workplace well-being from a systemic perspective. Companies need to go beyond welfare or benefits. The Monitor suggests looking to the OECD framework on well-being at work (see image) to design, among other things, more fulfilling jobs, right-to-disconnect policies, psychological support programs, and care-oriented leadership.
• Training and development as levers of equity and competitiveness. Investing in continuous growth—especially for women and workers over 55—means ensuring productive sustainability over the medium term.
• Align values and value creation. Companies that acknowledge their dependence on human capital—and promote its well-being—build economic and reputational value that is more stable over time.

Taking care of people’s well-being is an investment in competitiveness and business value continuity. Italian managers should therefore address this issue strategically, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches. Data must be the starting point, and the topic cannot be confined to the HR function alone. It must permeate the entire organization, also leveraging the necessary investments in training.

At the international level, SDA Bocconi participates in the Task Force for Inequality and Social Financial Disclosure (TISFD), an initiative created to define new reporting standards on social sustainability, following the success of task forces dedicated to climate and biodiversity.

Social Sustainability Monitor 2025, La sostenibilità sociale delle imprese: contraddizioni e opportunità nel contesto europeo (Social sustainability in business: contradictions and opportunities in the European context).