PSHRA Report Assesses the State of Public Sector Employee Mental Health

PSHRA’s new report, The State of Employee Mental Health in the Public Sector, finds government HR professionals under significant stress, with heavy workloads, burnout and poor work-life balance taking a toll on public sector HR professionals’ mental well-being.

In February 2025, PSHRA conducted a survey of 419 public sector HR professionals, reprising a 2021 study the Association conducted in an effort to identify patterns and trends with regard to public sector organizations’ focus on employee well-being.

The 2025 survey emphasized mental health, seeking to identify new areas of interest in mental well-being throughout the public sector workforce. Overall, the data suggests that public sector employers are still focusing on employee mental health, but many workers—including in HR—are still experiencing mental well-being issues, driven by workload, burnout, poor work/life balance and other factors.

For example, more than half of HR professionals have experienced workplace stress in the past two years (56%), representing a 10% decrease from 2021. The largest agencies were more likely to have more stress than before.

Twenty-five percent of respondents reported that workplace stress is having an effect on their personal relationships, compared to 39% who said the same in 2021.

More than half of the HR professionals surveyed said that their well-being was negatively impacted by their role in HR. Out of those HR professionals, 56% reported their personal well-being and their professional performance was impacted, and 83% said their sleep was inhibited.

Workload (78%) and burnout (75%) were the most commonly cited drivers of employees’ mental health concerns in the public sector workplace. Politics (63%) and poor work/life balance (53%) are also having a negative impact on workers’ mental well-being.

Overall, HR managers reported spending 18% of their time—roughly one day of a five-day work week—supporting mental health initiatives, representing a 2% increase from a similar survey PSHRA conducted in 2021. This increase is most pronounced among federal and state government agencies, special districts, and large agencies.

In an effort to address these mental health concerns, and to promote well-being initiatives and encourage more open communication around mental health, agencies reported taking steps such as holding wellness fairs (55%), utilizing lunch and learns (38%), producing and distributing mental health newsletters for employees (33%), along with other methods such as email, webinars and “Wellness Wednesdays”.

This year’s findings “reveal the stress that public sector HR professionals are experiencing, and show how these pressures can negatively affect their professional and personal lives,” said Cara Woodson Welch, PSHRA CEO.

“Moreover, this data really underscores the importance of creating a work environment where employees are comfortable seeking mental health support, along with offering the resources workers need to navigate their mental well-being challenges.”