Technological stress: Psychophysiological symptoms in modern offices

Abstract

Increasingly, employees in modern office environments report suffering from psychosomatic symptoms. Studies of employees in high-technology industries suggest that psychosomatic symptoms are related in part to high perceived mental demands in combination with lack of sufficient skills. Employees with symptoms more commonly report that they are not sufficiently recognized by their employer, as compared with nonsymptomatic peers. Low perceived organizational efficiency correlates with high mental stress among employees. In a controlled stress management program, we observed lower mental stress levels among participants, as compared with controls, and lower physiological arousal, measured as circulating levels of prolactin. It is suggested that organizational reengineering and the introduction of information technologies constitute potential stressors challenging employees' cognitive resources. It is predicted that psychosomatic syndromes in the workplace will most likely increase in the foreseeable future due to the rapid changes currently transcending working life.