No time for stress

Managers dismiss stress worries despite nine in ten suffering. The latest Badenoch & Clark Employment Study has today revealed a growing stress problem in the UK workplace. A worryingly high number of employees (91 percent) are stressed at work, with around seven in ten (71 percent) workers unable to raise their concerns with management.

With the economy still suffering from the global financial crisis, employees’ stress levels are being affected predominately by increased workloads, credit crunch worries and reduced headcount in their company.

Some stark differences between how men and women are reacting to the situation were also revealed. Just under a third of men (31 percent) are worried that they will lose their job, compared to around one quarter of women (26 percent). Men are also more stressed about the general economic outlook, 36 percent compared with 28 percent.

Of those professionals that brought stress levels up with their managers, seven percent said they were ignored and only six percent said it led to concrete measures being taken to help them mange the situation.

Neil Wilson, managing director of Badenoch & Clark, commented: “Stress currently costs British business billions of pounds a year. While some stress is a normal part of work, excessive stress reduces productivity and general wellbeing. Most employers would agree that it makes business sense to avoid excessive stress levels building up in the workplace.” Our Employment Study shows very clearly too few organisations are attacking stress effectively. Many employees are shouldering the stress emanating from a number of sources without the help of their managers. Interestingly, men are feeling the strain more than women as they worry about their jobs and career prospects.

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19 August 2009