Self-care and Wellness for Job Search & Employment
ACCES will support our job seekers and alumni to overcome barriers, build confidence, gain new coping skills and discover best practices for self-care and workplace wellness.
Mental health has an impact on the workplace
How does mental health affect employment?
Mental illnesses such as depression are associated with higher rates of disability and unemployment. Depression interferes with a person’s ability to complete physical job tasks about 20% of the time and reduces cognitive performance about 35% of the time (Apr 10, 2019).
Dr. Kwame McKenzie (CEO of the Wellesley Institute) emphasizes the negative impacts on mental health throughout and post pandemic. He urges proactive strategies to provide essential mental health care in the post-pandemic period.
According to the Mental Health Commission, on any given week, more than 500,000 Canadians are unable to go to work due to mental health problems.
Mental health is a critically important factor at each step of the job journey for jobseekers, alumni and employers.
Job seekers need to maintain mental health and wellness to be effective in their job search.
- Stress, Anxiety and Depression are particularly high for newcomer and racialized job seekers
- Job search depression is real: New York Times: “On top of the obvious financial stress that comes with being unemployed or underemployed, job seekers also suffer from worse physical health, with rates of depression rising among the unemployed the longer they go without finding work.”
- Self-esteem and self-confidence are critical to succeeding in one’s job search and career
Alumni, and those who have found work, mental health and wellness are key elements to careers success.
- Returning to work after the pandemic is stressful; how to deal with returning to work and the ‘new normal’
- Career development practice is inseparable from mental health wellness. Post-hire support must focus on areas such as “self-awareness, self-reflection, self-assessment, goal setting, visualization, labour market research, educational research, skill development, decision making, and the like.”
Employers, creating and cultivating a healthy workplace and culture, free from stigma.
- Prepare ACCES job seekers for success with our employer partners
- Support the post-pandemic return to work
- Remove barriers and support the career mobility of diverse workers
Join us and contribute to making a World of Difference with a monthly or one-time donation
How ACCES will use the funds we raise:
Develop a resource HUB on our ACCES website
Offer mindfulness, yoga and nutrition workshops to our job seekers
Deliver CMHA Mental Health workshops to our clients and integrate customized workshops to address specific interview and workplace onboarding challenges
Deliver webinars and guest speaker sessions for our job seekers
Explore apps for mediation and calmness; work with specific tools to lower anxiety related to job search and interviews
Lead Corporate Donors:
ACCES has partnered with HSBC for a 2nd year to support entrepreneur, BIPOC women, and youth clients as they navigate the Canadian market and learn new, best-practices on business planning, negotiating, presentation skills, and more. HSBC has also provided financial support to help us develop confidence-building and self-care workshops under our World of Difference campaign. ACCES is pleased to launch the HSBC Wellness-Capacity, Knowledge, and Sharing Best-Practices Program in 2023 through this generous support.
ACCES is thrilled to partner with Sephora on their Charity Rewards program as a ‘charity of choice,’ as well as on our World of Difference campaign in support of self-care best practices for jobseekers. We also hosted a Classes-for-Confidence workshop for newcomer jobseekers. Sephora developed these classes to help inspire fearlessness in expressing oneself so you can be exactly who you are and be ready for any challenge, including the Canadian workforce. This workshop is meant to be inclusive and inspiring for people who are recent immigrants, refugees, and those who are new to the Canadian workforce.
For more information about the campaign or to learn how to get involved, please contact:
Michelle Moreno, Director, Corporate Engagement & Donor Lead at [email protected]