Increased work and a sense of isolation. These are the main, but not the only, causes that have exploded a phenomenon practically non-existent up to now: the request for psychological help from companies for their employees "stressed" by smart working. This was revealed by International SOS, the multinational that operates with over 10.000 employees in 85 countries around the world to guarantee the management of medical and safety services to large groups, but also to SMEs and professionals. An activity that completely exploded with the Covid-19 emergency, which has forced many companies to limit travel and movements or to turn to International SOS: "Some issues, such as health, which were previously managed only at an insurance level, are now also managed at an operational level, which is what we deal with,” he explains to FIRSTonline Pietro Di Comite, commercial director of International SOS Italia.
International SOS is a sort of private civil protection, capable of intervening all over the world in support of the workforce of client companies, from management down: "Beyond Covid, which has increased our requests for assistance, we deal with 8 on-site providers of medical services, ranging from prevention, travel arrangements to treatment or repatriation, with assistance 90.000/24”. There is not only health, but also safety: road accidents, repatriations or evacuations in the event of attacks, coups, hurricanes, earthquakes. And then precisely Covid, which has even upset the internal organization of companies: "Even crisis committees have been born in companies, it is a new trend like the one for security after the Twin Towers and the Bataclan", explains Di Comite, who bets that “health will remain at the center for years. This year alone we have rented 450 air ambulances, many for symptomatic patients for Covid".
In fact, there are many companies that continue to travel in this period, and they can do so thanks to the support that companies such as International SOS make available, starting with timely information on restrictions in the country of destination. But there is also a universe that works in smart working, or rather in teleworking, on which the attention of International SOS has also been directed: "Since the beginning of the pandemic - Di Comite confirms - I have requests for psychological assistance tripled derived from home working”. The data came out on the occasion of a webinar with the unequivocal title: "Smart working: mental health and long-term effects". And they speak of a series of critical issues, which in the face of greater autonomy and so-called wellbeing (but also productivity itself, in some cases), consist in the intensification of work, in the sense of isolation, in the emergence of musculoskeletal disorders and in the reduction of health-promoting behaviors.
In spite of smart working as a tool - according to some - to be confirmed in the "new normality", this ended up even determining requests for psychological help: "It depends a lot on the type of company - reveals Di Comite -. There are companies that have never stopped travelling, but a large part of the workforce and management have found themselves in smart working. There have been several requests for psychological help in recent months. How does it work? Companies call us and we put them in touch with a psychologist. This is also part of our medical assistance service”.
