“Basically, older workers seem to be driving all of this effect,” Lamar Pierce, one of the co-authors, said. “One, it’s harder for them to move, so they have less labor mobility. And, two, they have less flexibility: learning new roles, adapting to change, they have more fully-formed preferences at this point." 

The study found that the mental health environment can also affect employee turnover:  Workers taking benzos or SSRIs had a 5-9 percentage increased likelihood to exit that company in a given year, regardless of gender or age.

“This is the tip of the iceberg, and we don’t know how deep that iceberg goes beneath,” said Pierce. “If you believe that the generation of significant depression and anxiety requiring medication represents a much broader shift in overall mental health, it’s probably a much bigger effect in terms of people.”