Swiss Re - Mental Health

Our vision and culture help us stay connected, support each other and remain resilient, enabling us to deliver our best. We understand that to make the world more resilient, our people need to be resilient first. A person’s mental wellbeing is as important as their physical wellbeing. This is why we encourage our employees to be open about their health, both physical and mental, and why we work hard to break down the stigma surrounding mental health issues. Since we have an opportunity as an employer to effect real change, we’ve joined The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health by signing a public pledge to advance progress in workplace mental

Personal resilience strategy

Our personal resilience strategy has four pillars: mental, physical, financial and community resilience. It builds on existing measures to promote a healthy working culture, notably through Own The Way You Work™ and the Employee Assistance Programs to which employees in nearly every Swiss Re location have access. Key to our agenda of reaching ‘parity of esteem’ between mental and physical health is awareness-building. We offer mental health first aid trainings across all our locations and encourage employees to take prompt preventative action at the first sign of mental health struggles, for example, by taking a day off to recharge.

Pursuing the path to better mental health

Pathways, our Mental Health network, is dedicated to raising awareness of mental health challenges, overcoming mental health misconceptions and taboos and fostering an environment of open conversations to strengthen resilience. The global network is comprised of mental health champions – employees who take the time to listen, advocate for mental health in their circles and refer people to professional help if necessary.

Pathways organises mental health first aid training, mindfulness sessions and regular mental health talks and other events on a variety of mental health-related topics throughout the year. We also offer independent, confidential advice and counselling to our employees through external Employee Assistance Providers in every location free of charge. On World Mental Health Day, we illuminate our buildings in green.