NABS’ Stats for First Half of 2021 Reveal Worrying Increase in Low Mood Among Adlanders

NABS’ user stats for the first half of 2021 reveal that low mood among advertising and media professionals has crept up since last year, demonstrating the progressively negative impact of the pandemic on our industry’s wellbeing. 

Low mood has been a recurring theme for the past few years, but NABS’ latest stats show a rise of 14% in calls relating to this since 2020.  

Encouragingly, NABS stats show that industry employees are reaching out in new ways for help. 

There’s been a huge 48% increase year-on-year in attendance of Masterclasses (group coaching sessions), with sessions focusing on confidence being the most popular as attendees prepare to return to the office. Newer themes coming through so far this year in Masterclasses and one-to-one coaching include building rapport remotely and different ways of working as a team, reflecting continued working from home practices, as well as a move into hybrid working. 

The pandemic has provided reflection time for many in our industry. Other themes coming through Masterclasses and coaching centre on career and life change, with many rethinking their priorities. There are also concerns from some working mothers worried about the effects of the pandemic on their careers.  

The top three reasons for seeking advice through the NABS Advice Line and NABS Chatbot in the first half of 2021 are financial assistance (32%), emotional support (27%) and redundancy (18%).  The proportion of emotional support and redundancy calls have decreased this year, reflecting the continued growth in demand year-on-year for requests for financial support. 

Annabel McCaffrey, head of support, NABS, says: “We’ve helped so many people this year with their finances. If someone needs to retrain or needs money to make ends meet, we can assist with a grant; we also support people with money management and debt management. We’re here for our industry through what continues to be a tough period, both emotionally and financially.”  

NABS’ stats also reveal a chance for adlanders to benefit from its free one-to-one coaching service. Coaching take-up in the first half of 2021 fell by nine per cent year-on-year, reflecting people’s focus on life outside of work as lockdown restrictions eased. This means that spaces are now available for NABS’ bespoke career coaching and wellbeing coaching. 

Diana Tickell, CEO, NABS, says: “Our stats for the first half of 2021 reveal that as an industry we have to do more to support people's low mood before we start to see more increases in this area. Relying on summer breaks won’t be enough. This is especially important as we face new challenges over the next few months, and uncertainty and anxiety may increase as people start to focus on returning to the office. 

“We are cautiously optimistic about where we are with Covid, but  we’re in a brace position for the end of furlough, with parts of our industry that are still struggling. We’re also anticipating challenges due to some employees’ and organisations’ differing expectations around hybrid and flexible working. We’re here to support everybody in the industry with their wellbeing throughout these difficult circumstances.”