by Shane Henson — October 17, 2012—Heavy workloads, fears about job security, and other work-related concerns have left almost half of mid-level U.K. managers and junior staff feeling stressed and under pressure in the workplace, according to a survey undertaken by Lane4, a company that consults businesses on performance and employee engagement.
Approximately 1,500 U.K. adults were polled for the survey. Key findings include:
- A third of male and female employees had severe fears about their current job.
- Almost half (43%) now report feeling under pressure at work.
- Because of the current economic climate, over a third (34%) are desperately worried about their job security. As a result of the climate, nearly one in five (17%) workers feel they have also been given additional work, increasing their workload dramatically.
- Nearly half (48%) have had their workload increase following redundancies at their company.
- Nearly a quarter (24%) of workers are taking on extra projects to assist colleagues who are struggling to cope with their workload.
- Middle management suffers the greatest stress levels, with two in five (39%) under severe stress.
- One in five (20%) reported that junior staff just starting their careers also felt extreme pressure.
- Looking at individual departments, sales staff complained of higher stress levels, more than four times greater (19%) than those working in information technology (6%).
- The most insecure region is the Northwest of the U.K., with one in seven (16%) fearing they could lose their jobs, compared to only 3% of workers in East Anglia.
Considering the survey’s finding, Lane4’s managing director and Olympic gold medalist Adrian Moorhouse has called for business leaders to do more to ensure that all staff members are able to cope in these tough times. “If it is junior staff that are feeling a large amount of pressure, as revealed in the study, they must provide the tools and techniques to help develop resilience and success strategies. This will help them to thrive on the pressure, rather than crumble beneath it,” Moorhouse said.
