Third of workers 'too tired to enjoy home life'

A third of Irish workers finish their daily tasks too tired to enjoy home life, figures showed today.

Employees were found to be generally hard working, with half saying their jobs were stressful and a similar number putting in extra hours to get things done.

But around 90% were happy with their jobs and many said they would continue to work even if they did not need the money.

The results were published by the Economic and Social Research Institute in a report which described the number of people too tired to enjoy home life as “shocking“.

Work stress peaked between the ages of 25 and 39 – the key period for family formation and career development.

Many workers questioned said they suffered increasing levels of stress, with four out of 10 returning from work exhausted.

One in four were under more pressure at work than they were two years ago, with many having undertaken additional responsibilities.

A spokesman said: “All of this suggests that as organisations demand more of employees there is a danger that employees may experience more stress and a diminished quality of life.”

Despite the high stress levels the study also revealed that 86% of employees found their work interesting.

Some 90% were satisfied with their working conditions and 70% were happy with their wages.

Top of the professions for job satisfaction was teaching, while the worst was the hospitality industry.

Happiest employees were those in professional fields; 96% of those who had been through higher education said they were satisfied with their jobs.

A total of 87% were satisfied with their hours of work and 68% said they would continue to work even if they had enough money to live comfortably for the rest of their lives.

Job satisfaction was similar for workers in both the public and private sectors.

The National Centre for Partnership and Performance (NCPP), which commissioned the study, concluded that Irish employees were working hard, but were happy doing so.

More than 5,000 workers filled in questionnaires for the study between June and September this year.

Today’s statistics were preliminary figures, with the full report due to be published in November.

The NCPP is a state body set up two years ago to promote partnership in the workplace.