Doubling of job stress levels among employees
Job stress among employees in Ireland doubled in five years but the level was still below that of our European counterparts.
A study by the Economic and Social Research Institute found that job stress among employees here increased from 8% in 2010 to 17% in 2015.
However, the level of job stress in 2015 was below the average for 10 western European countries, at 19%.
The report, funded by the Health and Safety Authority, uses two waves of a European-wide dataset — the European Working Conditions survey which is conducted every five years.
Employees were considered to be experiencing job stress if they reported that they “always” or “most of the time” felt stressed at work.
They were also measured on their reaction to stress — that they found it difficult to sleep, were generally fatigued, and felt anxious.
Job stress is more common among people experiencing a high level of emotional demands, such as dealing with angry clients or customers or having to hide emotions at work.
It is also more common among those under time pressure, such as never having enough time to get the job done or working to tight deadlines.
People who are most exposed to bullying, harassment, violence, and discrimination are eight times more likely to experience job stress than those who are not so exposed.
Long working hours also cause stress, with those working over 40 hours per week twice as likely to experience job stress as those working 36 to 40 hours.
Current legislation prohibits average work weeks in excess of 48 hours; however, the report points out that stress reactions appear to accelerate before this threshold.
However, employees were less likely to experience stress if they got support from co-workers and managers, felt that their job was useful, or had a feeling of work well done.
Employees in the health sector (18%), public administration (16%), and the manufacturing sector (15%) experience the highest levels of job stress.
The occupational groups most likely to experience job stress are technical/associate professionals (20%), professionals (16%), and managers (14%).
The report highlights the importance of businesses having policies in place to deal with job stress.
Under current legislation, employers must ensure that employees are protected against any personal injury to mental health arising from job stress.
“Job stress is becoming a more important issue in the Irish workplace as the economy becomes increasingly service-based,” said Helen Russell, one of the report’s co-authors.
Dr Russell said they found that age, gender, and family status were not strongly associated with levels of job stress in Ireland.
In Britain, women were more likely than men to experience job stress.
