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As our economy has changed and "progressed" over the years, workplace stress has become more and more prevalent. We have created many new jobs with many new and often intense responsibilities. When responsibilities exceed abilities, work stress is often the end result.
While many view a bit of stress at work as a normal part of everyday life, and even as a motivating factor in achieving their best work, workplace stress has also become a huge cost for many employees as well as their employers. The majority of people today report feeling stressed about their work at least some of the time. And, studies have shown that work stress is one of the main causes of the high turnover rate experienced by many professions.
About 1/4 of employees view their job as the number one stressor in their lives. This high amount of work stress is causing health problems for employees as well as a decrease in productivity for employers. In 1996 the WHO (World Health Organization) labeled stress as a "world wide epidemic", and it has been estimated that workplace stress costs employers over $300 billion in poor performance, missed work, and health care costs.
As our "progress" continues, many (at least 3/4 of employees) believe that we have higher levels of work stress than just a generation ago. Things like low pay, demands for higher and higher productivity, as well as less job security have contributed to this rise in workplace stress. And, the fact that we can always "log on" and get right back to work, or be reached on our cell phone pretty much everywhere (even on vacation), doesn't help things. We are constantly on the go, and work will even follow us into our dreams.
Due to the prevalence of workplace stress, employers have begun to attempt to provide assistance and education to their staff. Certain businesses have also begun to change their office practices in an effort to reduce the stress of work. As people have begun to realize how prevalent workplace stress really is, they have also realized that we need to increase efforts to reduce the stress caused by work. Doing so will help both employees and the companies they work for.
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