Engineers stressed and unsupported at work
January 24th 2008

Bullying in the UK is endemic and for one in four people it is a weekly or even daily cause of stress. Over 80% of workers have been bullied during their careers and a third of people are so stressed they have dreamed of quitting for a life abroad. Over half say their jobs are getting more stressful and that work is overtaking their home lives.

Occupation has a major influence on stress, with over 40% of IT workers, retailers, caterers and engineers feeling unsupported at work and over half unable to deal with stress, compared with people in health, education, banking and finance over half of whom claim they receive adequate support at work.

These are the key findings of Samaritans’ survey for Stress Down Day, taking place on Friday February 1st; a national campaign to encourage people to take better care of their health at work and reduce currently damaging stress levels, www.stressdownday.org.

Young employees (18-24 years) are most vulnerable to stress, with 38% feeling less likely than all other age groups to talk openly to their managers and 57% unable to talk to colleagues. Forty-eight percent are more likely to be bullied by clients and customers whereas over half of other age groups reported being bullied by their managers.

Samaritans is experienced in workplace issues and provides a 24 hour confidential support service by phone and email. The charity also runs WorkLife, a training course to tackle stress in the workplace and provide practical skills for managers and team members. Log on to www.samaritans.org for more information. A CD-ROM of the course is also available.

Samaritans surveyed 2,100 adults in the UK and 500 adults in the Republic of Ireland, through nfpSynergy between the 12th and 30th November 2007.

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