Six in ten Indian jobseekers would openly disclose that they are taking a mental health day at work, according to a Naukri Jobseeker Pulse survey released on 9 October 2026, timed around World Mental Health Day on 10 October.
The survey, based on responses from around 10,000 jobseekers across 8 cities and 83 industries, found that 61% of jobseekers said they would openly disclose taking a mental health day, while 42% said poor work-life balance affects their mental health the most.
One in two jobseekers believe companies should set clear after-work boundaries to better support employee mental health, while one in three said losing out on career opportunities is their biggest concern when opening up about mental health at work.
A separate Naukri analysis of a larger cut of 19,650 jobseekers found that nearly three out of four Indian professionals still hesitate to be transparent about taking time off for mental health reasons. Nearly half of employees, at 45%, said they would simply mark it as a general sick leave. About 20% said they would rather avoid taking leave at all, while 9% said they would fabricate a different excuse entirely.
Sector-level patterns show meaningful variation. The BFSI sector showed more openness, with over 30% of respondents willing to disclose mental health as the reason for leave. In design and hospitality, roughly 28% said they would skip taking leave altogether rather than mention mental health.
Fear of judgment was especially pronounced in aviation at 42% and automobile at 33%. Demand for clearer after-work boundaries was highest in emerging technologies at 71% and BPO at 61%. Among freshers and early-career professionals with 0 to 5 years of experience, only around 25% said they would call a mental health day what it is, while 43% would code it as sick leave.
On what employers can do differently, 22% of respondents wanted managers trained to spot burnout, 13% favoured dedicated mental health leave policies, and 12% wanted greater access to counselling support.
