Work pressure and personal finances have lead to increasing stress level among employees in the country, reveals the latest research by Regus suggesting flexible office hours will be helpful in reducing stress.

According to survey by the workspace provider Regus conducted among over 16,000 professionals worldwide, over half (51 per cent) of Indian respondents said their stress levels have risen over the past year.

The survey said most stress triggers due to work pressure and personal finances. Besides, a number of factors such as work, money, and commute to work as well as continuing instability in the world economy have fuelled this growing pressure.

According to the survey, 51 per cent of respondents in the country said most stress triggers due to work pressure and 50 per cent of Indian surveyed have listed personal finance as the major cause for the increasing stress level.

Interestingly, the survey found that nearly three quarters (72 per cent) of Indian respondents identified flexible working as a way of cutting stress.

“Without a doubt, stressed-out workers are unhappy and unhealthy workers too, so businesses that want to help their staff lead more rewarding lives cannot fail to analyse and tackle levels of stress within their organisation.

“Yet the heavy toll of stress falls not only on workers, but also on businesses as they find their staff is unable to perform as required, needs more sick leave and is less efficient,” Regus Regional Vice-President (South Asia) Madhusudan Thakur said.

He further said employees feel healthier directly as a result of flexible working and a possible solution to reduce their high stress levels.

The survey said employees in small businesses are more likely to be stressed by customers than those in larger organisations.

“Small business workers were more likely to be stressed by customers (45 per cent) than large business workers (34 per cent), but were less vexed by management (30 per cent) than their counterparts in larger firms (51 per cent,)” the survey noted.

comment COMMENT NOW