Workplace Stress - Factors That Contribute to Workplace Stress!
A quarter of employees view their jobs as the major stress in their lives.
In the United Kingdom, over 13 million working days are lost due to stress a year and according to a recent study in America, 50 percent of top corporate executives are leaving their positions due to overwork and burnout.
Several factors contribute to workplace stress.
One factor is longer working hours.
Some people work extended hours ranging from 50 hours or more to 70 hours per week and there has been an increase in combined working hours among couples with young children, leaving children to be brought up in day care centres and older children returning home from school, with no adult in sight.
Working conditions are another contributing factor.
There are differing opinions as to whether the main cause of workplace stress is the workers' personality or working conditions themselves.
One school of thought believes that personality and coping skills can predict whether a worker will feel stressed in certain working conditions or not, as everyone experiences stress differently.
However, there is scientific evidence to suggest that most people would find certain working conditions inherently stressful.
Researchers at the University of Buffalo have found that police are at risk of high blood pressure, heart problems, post traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, stress and suicide.
In policing, a recent study has shown that officers reported more suicidal thoughts than the general population.
Women experienced suicidal thoughts working day shifts and the men working afternoon and night shifts.
Policing is an inherently psychologically stressful job where offices face danger, possible death, violence and very high demands.
Matthew Hickley from Mail online reports that more than 1,000 police officers in England and Wales are off work each day with stress-related illnesses, costing the taxpayer one million pounds a week! On a more general note, a persons' status can also affect stress levels.
Workers who have very little influence in making major decisions for the company are more likely to suffer from workplace stress than someone more powerful.
Researchers have revealed that economic factors also contribute to workplace stress.
Although the computer revolution has helped companies become more efficient and productive, it has placed an enormous amount of stress on employees who now have higher expectations to meet and exceed.
Workplace stress is inevitable as we demand more and more from our workers than is humanly possible.
What needs to occur is a complete re-think of our values as a society in general, in order to find a solution that honours people rather than money.