One in five workers is exhausted

Stress in the workplace is one of the greatest challenges of our working world. The stress monitoring of Health Promotion Switzerland in the form of the Job Stress Index records working conditions and makes statements about the relationship between resources and stress in the workplace. The results of the survey, which was conducted for the second time, show an up-to-date and representative picture of the stress situation and the rate of exhaustion among Swiss employees. In addition, the index provides information about the economic potential of improvements in working conditions with regard to stress.

22.5% of the employed have stress at work
A good one in five employed persons (22.5%) experience stress at work, i.e. the stresses are greater than the available resources. On average, employed people in Switzerland have about as many resources as they have stresses at work. This is shown by the job stress index of 49.80 (an index of 50 means as many resources as stresses).

However, the 2015 survey also shows that a good fifth of all employees report significantly more stress than resources at work. Specifically, 1.1 million employees are in the "critical area." These individuals have too few resources to cope with the high levels of stress. Nearly half of the workforce has fragile balance. These approximately 2.4 million employees are in the "sensitive range," meaning that the available resources are only just sufficient to compensate for the current stresses. Only slightly more than a quarter of the Swiss workforce is in the "green zone" (1.4 million), i.e. in a positive balance with more resources than burdens.

A good fifth of the workforce is exhausted
22.6% of the employed are quite or very exhausted. If this is extrapolated to all employed persons in Switzerland, this affects a total of 1.1 million people. Long-term stress at work has negative consequences on job satisfaction and health and increases the intention to quit. Workers who had more stress than resources a year ago (high job stress index) were more exhausted a year later. The reverse is also true: employees who reported more exhaustion in 2014 have a higher job stress index one year later. In the worst case, this can result in "downward spirals." Employed individuals who work under consistently high job stress show a significantly higher intention to quit and lower job satisfaction. Changes are noticeable: Exhaustion decreases when the job stress index improves, and it increases when it worsens.

Stress costs employers 5 billion francs per year
The economic potential of improvements in an unfavorable job stress index is estimated at 5 billion Swiss francs per year. This takes into account, on the one hand, improved work performance due to fewer health problems during work, which accounts for 64% of the economic potential (i.e., 3.2 billion Swiss francs). In addition, there is the reduction in absenteeism, which amounts to 36% (i.e. 1.8 billion Swiss francs). If this is again converted into working hours, it corresponds to 136 million working hours per year.

Stress prevention helps
The health and well-being of employees are important prerequisites for the long-term economic performance of a company. It is therefore worthwhile for companies to invest sustainably in the health of their employees. Stress is often not easy to reduce. In stress prevention, companies should therefore pay particular attention to promoting resources in the workplace (e.g., increasing decision-making scope and social support). Based on the results of the online stress survey tool S-Tool, interventions can be derived such as leadership and team training or individual stress management courses for employees. Health Promotion Switzerland offers companies services for targeted stress prevention as well as for systematic workplace health management.

The "Job Stress Index 2015
In the representative online survey, a total of 2,844 employed persons between the ages of 16 and 65 were interviewed in spring 2015. In order to show the long-term trend, an additional 1,562 employed persons were surveyed who had already participated in this survey in 2014. The second survey made it possible to demonstrate the robustness of the key figures.