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Work and Stress Statistics

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)

• 40% of workers reported their work was a source of very or extremely high levels of stress.

• 25% view their work as the number one source of stress in their lives.

• Three fourths of employees believe that workers have more work related stress than a generation ago.

• 29% of workers felt quite a bit or extremely high levels of stress at work.

• 26 percent of workers said they were "often or very often burned out or stressed by their work."

• Work and stress is more strongly associated with health complaints than financial or family problems.

Absenteeism Due to Work Stress Has Escalated (NIOSH)

According to a survey of 800,000 workers in over 300 companies, the number of employees calling in sick because of stress tripled from 1996 to 2000. An estimated 1 million workers are absent every day due to stress. A 1997 3-year study conducted by a large corporation found that 60% of employee absences could be traced to psychological problems that were due to work related stress.

Stress Due to Job Insecurity Has Skyrocketed (NIOSH)

A 1999 government study reported that more jobs had been lost in the previous year than any other year in the last half century, and that the number of workers had fear of losing their jobs had more than doubled over the past decade. A report released on September 10, 2001 stated that "more than 1 million Americans lost their jobs this year, 83% higher than last year's total."

2000 Annual "Attitudes In The American Workplace VI" Gallup Poll

• 80% of workers feel stress at work.

• 14% of respondents had felt like striking a coworker in the past year, but didn't.

• 25% have felt like screaming or shouting because of work related stress.

• 10% are concerned about an individual at work they fear could become violent.

• 18% had experienced some sort of threat or verbal intimidation in the past year.

2000 Integra Survey

• 65% of workers said that work related stress had caused difficulties and more than 10 percent described these as having major effects.

• 10% said they work in an atmosphere where physical violence has occurred because of job stress. 42% report that yelling and other verbal abuse is common.

• 29% had yelled at co-workers because of work related stress.

• 19% or almost one in five respondents had quit a previous position because of job stress and nearly one in four have been driven to tears because of stress at work.

• 62% routinely find that they end the day with work related neck pain.

• 44% reported overly stressed eyes.

• 38% complained of hurting hands.

• 34% reported difficulty in sleeping because they were too stressed out.

• Over half said they often spend 12-hour days on work related duties and an equal number frequently skip lunch because of the stress of work demands.

Market Data Enterprises

• Stress related absenteeism at work costs U.S. industry $150 billion per year

• Workday commutes: average city worker spends 62 hours per year in rush hour delays

• Los Angeles commuters waste 136 hours per year in rush hour delays

Northwestern National Life Study

This study found that 40 percent of workers report their job is “very or extremely stressful.” And that one-fourth of employees views their work as the number one source of stress in their lives.

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Sources: Stress In the Workplace National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (www.cdc.gov/niosh)Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders: A Review of the Evidence National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences) Northwestern National Life Insurance Co, Princeton Survey Research Associates, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Co., Yale University and The Families and Work Institute; 2000 annual "Attitudes In The American WorkplaceVI" Gallup Poll

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