Trends in Work Stress and Exhaustion in Advanced Economies

Abstract

The study examines trends in work-related stress and exhaustion between 1997 and 2005 among employees in 13 countries and aims to identify the social and market forces underlying these trends. We argue that investigating the degree to which workers perceive their jobs as stressful or exhausting (indicators of job strain) has advantages over studying perceived job demands (antecedents of job strain). Analysis of comparative data from the International Social Survey Programme revealed that job strain is fairly prevalent affecting about 30–40 % of the workforce. Patterns of change over time varied substantially across countries and occupational groups. In most countries work stress has not increased between 1997 and 2005, two notable exceptions being Ireland and Slovenia. Work-related exhaustion has risen to a significant degree in the Czech Republic, Denmark and Hungary. There was also evidence that job strain has declined among high-level managerial, professional and technical workers in some countries. The findings suggest that protective institutions may help to mitigate job strain while rapid economic development increases workers’ risk of experiencing job strain.