Stress hits 25% of workforce

ONE-IN-FOUR workers suffers from stress-related illness, a survey shows. And the attitude of many employers is that stress goes with any job and workers needed to “get on with it”.

Recruitment website Irishjobs.ie, who conducted the on-line survey, also found that 75% believe there is a stigma attached to work-related stress.

Of the 60% who complained of stress to their boss, only 11% said their boss was understanding while just 9% offered help.

Over a third of those who complained said their boss was dismissive and over 2% were demoted as a result. Around 40% of workers blame office politics as the cause of their stress.

Irishjobs.ie chief executive Maria Mahon said their survey underlined that work-related stress was a serious issue. She said many of the 350 people who took part in the survey agreed there was a perception in the workplace that employees were “not up to the job” if they complained.

Information technology (IT) was identified as the job most likely to cause stress for employees. Over a third who said they were stressed worked in the IT sector.

The next most stressful sectors were sales and accounting.

The least stressed workers were in the legal profession, construction and retail sectors. Other causes of work-related stress include working longer working hours, traffic and difficult colleagues.

The survey also found that it was those aged between 26-30 are the most stressed. Ms Mahon said there was a higher expectation of young people to sacrifice more of their free time.