Reflections on Workplace Mental Health: A Formal and Informal Workforce Perspective

August 2025

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health–India Research Centre, Mittal Institute, Harvard Business School–India Research Centre, and Lancet Citizens’ Commission on Reimagining India’s Health System recently hosted a webinar “Reflections on Workplace Mental Health: A Formal and Informal Workforce Perspective” on August 25, 2025.

Mental health is increasingly recognized as central to overall wellbeing and productivity, yet workplaces where individuals spend a significant portion of their lives often remain sites of psychological stress, distress, and neglect. In both formal and informal employment contexts, the determinants of mental health are deeply embedded in working conditions, power dynamics, and access to support systems.

This webinar explored how work environments affect mental health in both formal and informal sectors, highlighting practical ways to support wellbeing, and encourage dialogue between research, practice, and lived experience, for inclusive mental health approaches for all workers.

Speakers:

• Mirai Chatterjee, Chairperson, SEWA Cooperative Federation
• Geeta Kumar, Coach and Founder, Pragati
• Shekhar Saxena, Consultant, Former Professor of the Practice of Global Mental Health, Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health, Former Director, Mental Health, World Health Organization
• Kirti Sharda, Faculty, Organizational Behavior, IIM Ahmedabad

Moderator:
Vikram Patel, Paul Farmer Professor and Chair of Global Health and Social Medicine, and Head of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, Harvard Medical School