The Alarming, Long-Term Consequences of Workplace
Stress
Health problems associated with job-related anxiety
account for more deaths each year than Alzheimer's disease or diabetes.
By many accounts, America’s
workers are both overworked and overwhelmed: Work days bleed into personal time, and some complain
about the inability to control, or even plan for their constantly changing
schedules. So it’s no surprise that such circumstances can lead to high stress
levels, but the reality of career-related stress might be more costly than most
workers realize.
A 2015 working paper from Harvard and Stanford
Business Schools takes a look at 10 common job stressors: from lack of health
insurance, to long working hours, to job insecurity. Researchers then
considered how the mental and physical effects of these forms of stress related
to mortality. The paper found that health problems stemming from job stress,
like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and decreased mental health, can
lead to fatal conditions that wind up killing about 120,000 people each
year—making work-related stressors and the maladies they cause, more deadly
than diabetes, Alzheimer’s, or influenza.
High
levels of stress are costly in monetary terms, too. Researchers found that
stress-related health problems could be responsible for between 5 to 8 percent
of annual healthcare costs in the U.S. That amounts to about $180 billion each
year in healthcare expenses.
The
study found that some stressors proved more problematic than others. Lack of
health insurance, for instance, has a particularly grim effect on health. It
results in financial stress, causing delayed treatment for potentially serious
medical issues—which can certainly contribute to mortality.
There have also been correlations between occupational injuries and working longer hours during the preceding week. In fact, a 2005 study noted that those who reported high levels of feeling overworked were 20 percent more likely to say that they had made lots of mistakes on the job, which could be especially problematic for those with physically demanding or dangerous positions. Shift work and long work hours were also associated with worse health generally, and bad health decisions—like smoking.
Work stressors can be hazardous to health in other ways, too. For
instance, employees at downsizing firms have been found to get sick at a rate
more than two-times as high as workers who feel secure in their jobs. The
stress that comes from the combination of low job control and high demands has
also been found to contribute to issues like cardiovascular disease.
Conflicting priorities between work and home have a negative affect on mental
health, and have been linked to some substance-abuse issues, according to the study.
How employees feel about their company's operation turns out to also be
important to health. Those who think that their workplace deals with employees
unfairly are more prone to reporting poor health. That means, to some extent,
that managers and executives may be able to help mitigate stress-related health
issues, and that top-down efforts to foster a more collegial and secure working
environment may lead to
happier and healthier workers. The researchers recommend company-wide events, and mentorship programs to
help in tackling high stress levels for employees and the associated health
costs for employers. Efforts
to retain employees for significant periods of time might help too, since
workers tend to feel more secure and form more supportive social networks when
there is some level of consistency within the employee pool, according
to the research.
“We do not claim that an
ideal stress-free workplace is realistically or economically achievable,” write
co-authors Joel Goh, Jeffrey Pfeffer, and Stefano A. Zenios. Instead they
suggest that a focus on stressors that can reasonably be targeted and reduced
might have a beneficial impact for everyone. “Even though it is likely that these stressors cannot be
completely eradicated in practice, our analysis suggests that even reducing
their prevalence could potentially go a long way
in improving health outcomes and cost.”
what
is overwork?
OVERWORK can be defined as negative outcomes that occur when
individuals are required to work more hours than they want to work.
Personal perceptions of workload are critical as individuals
have diverse reactions to the number of hours worked depending on their needs,
lifestyle, expectations and experiences.
Individuals
have a different tolerance for demands and stress. While many
(professionals and dual earner couples) are working harder than ever, some
workers (lower wage) can not find enough work to meet their needs.
What
contributes to overwork?
Ø
Lack of control over workload or pace of work
Ø
Global 24/7 economy
Ø
Job insecurity
Ø
Blurred boundaries between work and personal
life
Ø
Responsibility for two or three jobs
Ø
Reduced administrative support
Ø
Frequent interruptions and the need to
multi-task
How
does overwork impact your employees and your organization?
Heavy workload and long hours are
negatively affecting workers and their families, resulting in:
Ø Higher
stress levels and burnout
Ø Increased
health care costs
Ø Lower
productivity
Ø Reduced
aspirations
Ø Less
time for friends and family
Ø Less
emphasis on health/exercise
Ø Decline
in volunteerism
