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Increased Work Stress Revealed in Employee Survey

The latest quarterly Employee Outlook survey from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) reveals growing dissatisfaction among workers owing to severe work-related stress.

The CIPD questioned about 2000 employees across the UK on various workplace issues to come up with their findings. Almost 42 percent of those surveyed felt there is increasing stress at work as opposed to 38 percent about half a year ago. This poll shows more employees reporting incidents of increased bullying by higher-level staff and surging conflict at work, believed to be a consequence of recessive economic conditions.

The CIPD scored the job satisfaction levels of workers at a significantly lower +37 as compared to +46 in spring earlier this year.

Claire McCartney, resourcing and talent planning adviser at CIPD, said the higher levels of job satisfaction earlier in the year were a reaction to fears of losing jobs. She said employees were only too happy to just retain their jobs and remain employed, irrespective of work conditions or stress levels. However, McCartney was quick to point out that this trend has changed into a state of frustration now.

McCartney has warned that rising levels of frustration can lead to a dip in the productivity levels of workers and hurt the competitiveness among industries, thereby stalling any improvement in the market economy.

McCartney also says that there is a definite need for employers to start paying attention to the kind and amount of work that is done by their staff. She suggests that the right kind of job for the right person with reasonable deadlines and targets can boost employee confidence levels and enhance their job satisfaction. She adds that unless something is done soon, firms may begin to lose valuable manpower just when experienced workers are needed most to take full advantage of the slow economic recovery.

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