Start-ups are increasingly concerned with the health of their employees

Back pain is a thing of the past; today, start-ups are primarily concerned with the work-life balance of their employees when it comes to health. According to a study, the trend has been reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic.
News by Lisa Marie Münster Lisa Marie Münster · Stuttgart, 08. July 2021

Back pain is a thing of the past; today, start-ups are primarily concerned with the work-life balance of their employees when it comes to health. According to a study, the trend has been reinforced by the coronavirus pandemic.

Young, dynamic and digital - that's the cliché of start-ups. The coronavirus pandemic has shown whether they really are that flexible and digitalized: a study by the German Startups Association and Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) now provides concrete figures. According to the study, 88% of young companies employ digital natives. They were already working remotely before the pandemic and in future, working outside the traditional office will account for 61 percent of working hours.

Employees and founders of 300 start-ups were asked about their working methods and the importance of health. "Start-ups are pioneers of New Work - they have been working remotely for a long time and have also established a different working culture," says Alexander Hirschfeld, one of the authors of the study.

The start-ups are obviously aware that remote working can affect their health because they are constantly available. "Health is a resource for companies and founders," says Hirschfeld. According to the study, 79% of start-ups assume that work-life balance will be one of the most important health issues in the next five years, while 59% think the same about burnout. According to the study, "the high level of motivation and identification of employees in start-ups", which promotes the dissolution of boundaries, play a major role here.

This is also reflected in the importance of values, which play a major role in start-ups and also stabilize mental health: At 56 percent, team spirit is particularly close to employees' hearts. Communication, identification and a shared vision are each considered important by just over 50%, while 45% consider the corporate culture to be crucial.

"In addition to New Work, we need New Health in the workplace," concludes Franziska Teubert, Managing Director of the start-up association, from the study. But awareness is one thing, implementation is another: Only 29 percent of start-ups allocate human resources to the topic of health. Generally speaking, the larger the start-up, the more health-related services it offers. In companies with more than ten employees, 52% name a person responsible, while 80% of start-ups with fewer than ten employees have no specific person responsible for health.

What is remarkable about the study is the different weighting of the topic of health between women and men: 79% of female founders attach particular importance to health in their company, but only 64% of male founders.



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