840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to psychosocial risks at work

A new report from the International Labour Organization highlights a stark reality: over 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to psychosocial risks at work—things like long hours, job insecurity, and harassment.

These pressures, often tied to cardiovascular disease and mental health struggles, also cost the global economy around 1.37% of GDP annually. The core message is clear—these harms are preventable if organisations address root causes and take workplace wellbeing seriously.

But the deeper issue runs beyond policy gaps. Much of this stems from a lingering colonial mindset embedded in modern work—where people aren’t treated as collaborators, but as resources to be extracted from and eventually replaced.

AI is simply the next step in that trajectory, not a departure from it.

Layer hierarchy onto that, and the problem compounds. Hierarchy isn’t neutral—it’s a psycho-social technology that tends to concentrate power and attract “dark tetrad” personality traits: manipulation, narcissism, lack of empathy.

In these environments, high demands and low autonomy become the norm, and human wellbeing is secondary to output.

If there’s a way forward, it likely isn’t scaling these systems further. It’s moving toward smaller, more autonomous teams—supported by technology, not dominated by it—where people are treated as thinking, feeling contributors rather than expendable parts.

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#dynamicteaming #workplacewellbeing #WisdomWalks