An initiative by Nathalie Agosti and Claire Garwacki from Bellevue Executive. Each year, mental health-related absences cost the Swiss economy CHF 17.3 billion. In this video campaign, eleven Swiss CEOs react candidly to real workplace situations. Their responses reflect a growing recognition: mental health challenges are real, widespread, and impact performance at every level.
The Cost of Silence sparked a national conversation about psychological safety, workplace culture, the role of leaders in recognizing mental health, and the consequences of speaking up – or staying silent. Driven entirely by earned communication, the campaign reached more than 2.5 million people soon after its launch, was featured by leading Swiss media including Eco Talk, Tages-Anzeiger, and Der Bund, and received recognition through NZZ Sustainable Shaper 2025.
The campaign’s impact demonstrates the power of storytelling to bring difficult workplace realities into the open, encourage reflection, and inspire meaningful conversations about creating environments where people feel safe to speak.
The Cost of Silence is part of “Is Switzerland Fit for the Future?”, the platform we created to put the topics that matter on Switzerland’s leadership agenda.
By sharing these voices, we aim to break the silence and position mental health not as a personal weakness, but as a strategic business priority. Because real performance starts with the right environment.
Is Switzerland fit for the future? It’s time to make mental health part of the leadership agenda.
Tina Mueller, Weleda AG; Denis Machuel, The Adecco Group; Marc Werner, Galenica Group; Nora Teuwsen, ABB Schweiz; Peter Spirig, ex-V-ZUG; Patricia Mattle, ElipsLife; Billy Kneubühl, Oracle Switzerland; Felix Graf, NZZ; Florian Saur, AstraZeneca Switzerland; Achim von Leoprechting, Tecan Group; Muriel Langenberger, Foundation Pro Mente Sana.
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