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Work stress is "the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs" of the employee.1

Stress in Today's Workplace

• According to the American Psychological Association, in 2011, 36% of employees report that during a typical workday they are stressed.2
• 57% of workers report they have resources to manage work stress.3
  • 36% report feeling stressed out during their work day.4
• Top causes of work stress5
  • Low salaries
  • Lack of opportunity for growth or advancement
  • Workload too heavy
  • Long hours
  • Uncertain or undefined job expectations
• Other causes of workplace stress in decreasing order include:6
  • Unrealistic job expectations
  • Work interfering on personal time
  • Job insecurity
  • Lack of participation in decision making
  • Inflexible hours
  • Commuting

• The American Psychological Association states that stress also comes from technology and our inability to turn off work.7

Stress and Productivity

• 56.3% of employees report stress caused difficulty focusing on tasks.8
• Over 14% report missing days at work or being late due to stress.9
• 21.0% report stress caused them to make errors or miss deadlines.10

Women and Stress

• While men work longer hours, and tend to have jobs with characteristics leading to more stress, women report being interrupted more frequently and experiencing more multitasking challenges. Too much multi-tasking appears to be one cause for women’s greater likelihood of being overworked.11

Parents and Stress

• 33.5% of the labor force consists of parents with children under 18.12
• Parents with school age children who experience a high amount of Parental After-school Stress (PASS) are more frequently interrupted, distracted, and drained of energy at work; make more errors; miss meetings and deadlines, and rate their productivity and quality of work lower than parents with lower amounts.13

Workplace Stress Programs

• A study found that in 2011, 12% of workplaces offered stress reduction programs, down from 15% in 2007 (2% are planning on adding the benefit over the next 12 months).14
• The same study found that 11% of companies offer massage therapy which may aid in stress reduction.15
• Resilience training may replace stress management. This model teaches the employee to become "steeled" to stressful situations and teaches strategies to build strength from stress.16

Cost of Stress

• Stress is linked to the six leading causes of death--heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.17
• 75 to 90 percent of all physician office visits are for stress-related ailments and complaints.18

Canada

• In 2010, those workers in management, or professional occupations in Canada reported higher stress levels than those in blue-collar jobs.19
• 45% of those who report themselves as highly stressed workers have a household income of $100,000 or more.20
• 55% of stressed workers in Canada are men.21
• About 75% of work stressed Canadians live in a metropolitan area.22

Global

• The Regus company reported that over half of global business workers have been experiencing a rise in workplace stress. For global business people, more than one fifth report a sharp increase in workplace stress.23 "Increased focus on profitability" is reported as the most cited cause of workplace stress internationally.24
• China reported the greatest overall rise in workplace stress (85.9%) with the United States experiencing the highest increase of stress in the business community (35%).25
• In Europe, workers cite tight deadlines rose from 50% in 1991 to over 60% in 2010.26
• Client contact can also be a source of stress and in Europe that has increased to 44% over the past 10 years (with 5% handling angry clients most of the time).27
• In the Netherlands, the calculated loss due to absenteeism and disability (due to psychological and musculoskeletal disorders) was €3 billion in 2004.28
• In Denmark, the level of work-related stress rose from 5.8% in 1987 to 8.8% in 2005.29
  • Those who are self-employed in Denmark have the highest work-stress levels of 17.3%.30
• In Luxembourg, 29.4% of women reported high levels of stress compared to 15.2% of men.31
• In some countries education level is related to stress level. In Poland and Spain, the higher the level of education the higher the level of work-stress.32
• In France, in 2004, 49% of workers cite they do not have enough time to finish their work, and that the work-pace has increased with 41% also indicating that management has unrealistic targets.33

How to cite this product: Catalyst. Catalyst Quick Take: Work Stress. New York: Catalyst, 2012.

• 1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention., National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Stress at Work. (Washington, DC: 1999).
• 2. American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive, Workplace Survey, (March 2012).
• 3. American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive, Workplace Survey, (March 2012).
• 4. American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive, Workplace Survey, (March 2012).
• 5. American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive, Workplace Survey, (March 2012).
• 6. American Psychological Association and Harris Interactive, Workplace Survey, (March 2012).
• 7. American Psychological Association, "Overwhelmed by Workplace Stress? You are Not Alone," (March 2012).
• 8. ComPsych Corporation, EAP Behavioral Disability, Approaches to Reduce Stress-Related Costs, (2012).
• 9. ComPsych Corporation, EAP Behavioral Disability, Approaches to Reduce Stress-Related Costs, (2012).
• 10. ComPsych Corporation, EAP Behavioral Disability, Approaches to Reduce Stress-Related Costs, (2012).
• 11. Galinsky, E., Bond, J., Kim, S., et. al. Overwork in America: When the Way We Work Becomes Too Much: Executive Summary, Families and Work Institute (2005).
• 12. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Table 5. Employment status of the population by sex, marital status, and presence and age of own children under 18, 2010-11 annual averages," (2012).
• 13. Brandeis University Community, Families & Work Program, Report of Findings: Parental After-School Stress (PASS) Project (Waltham, MA: 2004).
• 14. SHRM, 2011 Employee Benefits: Examining Employee Benefits Amidst Uncertainty (2011).
• 15. SHRM, 2011 Employee Benefits: Examining Employee Benefits Amidst Uncertainty (2011).
• 16. Atkinson, William (2011). "Turning Stress into Strength," HR Magazine, 56:1.
• 17. American Psychological Association, How Does Stress Affect Us?
• 18. American Psychological Association, How Does Stress Affect Us?
• 19. Statistics Canada, "What’s Stressing the Stressed? Main Sources of Stress Among Workers," (2011).
• 20. Statistics Canada, "What’s Stressing the Stressed? Main Sources of Stress Among Workers," (2011).
• 21. Statistics Canada, "What’s Stressing the Stressed? Main Sources of Stress Among Workers," (2011).
• 22. Statistics Canada, "What’s Stressing the Stressed? Main Sources of Stress Among Workers," (2011).
• 23. Regus, "Stress Out?: A Study of Trends in Workplace Trends," (2010).
• 24. Regus, "Stress Out?: A Study of Trends in Workplace Trends," (2010).
• 25. Regus, "Stress Out?: A Study of Trends in Workplace Trends," (2010).
• 26. Eurofound, "Stress at Work," (2012).
• 27. Eurofound, "Stress at Work," (2012).
• 28. European Working Conditions Observatory, Costs Related to Work-Related Stress, "Stress at Work," (2012).
• 29. European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO), "Work-Related Stress," (2010).
• 30. European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO), "Work-Related Stress," (2010).
• 31. European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO), "Work-Related Stress," (2010).
• 32. European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO), "Work-Related Stress," (2010).
• 33. European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, "Work-Related Stress," (2007).