European workers are logging fewer hours on the job per week than they used to, but a quicker pace and increasingly intense workplace is causing stress levels to rise, reports a study conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
The 31-country survey sampled the views of 30,000 workers and found that while six out of 10 employees consider themselves largely happy with their working conditions, a similar number say they’re stressed. It said one-third of workers feel their job offers good career prospects, while another third feels their health and safety is at risk because of their job.
Jorma Karppinen, director of the Dublin-based organisation, said that although European workers are generally content, there are worrisome signs. “Stress levels are not reducing and the effects of stress at work are starting to be felt in other ways, such as physical wellbeing of workers,” he said.
The level of stress and satisfaction varies widely throughout Europe, according to the study. Workers in Denmark lead all countries with a 93.4 percent job satisfaction rate, while workers in Romania are least satisfied (56 percent). The EU average is 62 percent, says the Foundation. It claims British workers have the second highest satisfaction rate at 92.7 percent.
The study also revealed that British workers are more likely to receive threats and violence at work than those in any other country apart from the Netherlands. But they are less likely to take leave as a result of work-related illnesses than the EU average.