Stress and psychosocial risks at work have increased
Stress is increasingly becoming a burden in the world of work. In 2017, 21% of those in employment suffered from stress very often at their workplace, compared with 18% in 2012. Psychosocial risks are also generally on the rise. The frequency of physical risks, on the other hand, has hardly changed. Just under half (49%) of the stressed individuals feel emotionally exhausted at work and consequently have a higher risk of burnout. These are some of the findings from the latest publication of the Swiss Federal Statistical Office (SFSO).
In 2017, 50% of employees were affected by at least three of the nine types of psychosocial risks at their workplace. This corresponds to an increase of four percentage points compared with 2012. Psychosocial stresses are caused by work organization and arise, among other things, as a result of high time pressure, little scope for creativity, lack of support from superiors or coworkers, discrimination or violence, as well as fear for the job and Stress.
Stress is associated with other psychosocial risks....
The proportion of people who are usually or always stressed at work has increased for both women and men from 18% in 2012 to 21% in 2017. This makes stress one of the psychosocial risks that has increased the most. The increase was particularly significant among those in the labor force under age 30 (from 19% to 25%) and in health care and social assistance (from 18% to 23%). Individuals are particularly likely to be under stress if they are exposed to at least three other types of psychosocial risk (2017: 37%). Their share has increased by 4 percentage points since 2012.
... and increases the risk of burnout
Just under half (49%) of those who are very often stressed feel emotionally exhausted at work. Among those in employment who are stressed less often or never, this proportion is 13%. Emotional exhaustion is considered a sign of high Burn-out risk and is associated with lower health status. Emotionally spent individuals are six times more likely to exhibit signs of moderate to severe depression than those who do not feel emotionally spent (24% vs. 4%). In general, all psychosocial risks increase the likelihood of feeling emotionally spent at work.
Stable situation for physical risks
In contrast, the proportion of people exposed to at least three of a total of nine physical risks at work remained stable between 2012 and 2017 (45%). Among women, some risks have nevertheless increased: They are more likely to have to perform the same arm or hand movements consistently (increase from 57% to 61%) or to work in extreme temperatures. Men, in turn, are more often exposed to an accumulation of physical risks than women (48% versus 42%), although the difference tends to decrease.
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