Nearly half of UK employees have searched for new job due to work stress

work stress

Almost half (46%) of UK workers say they have searched for a new job because of work stress, according to research by project management software organisation Wrike.

The report, The stress epidemic: employees are looking for a way out, polled 1,600 employees and found that more than two-fifths (42%) of UK workers regularly lose sleep as a result of workplace stress.

According to the survey, 41% of UK workers experience moderate stress at work, 21% experience high stress, and 3% state that it is unsustainably high. Only 6% state that they have no work stress, although 30% experience only low levels.

Just under a third (32%) of UK employees admitted to losing their temper in the workplace because of stress. A similar percentage (31%) said they had been prompted to stop caring about their work. Some 29% of the UK respondents admitted to taking these issues out on their friends or family, while 26% said they had taken unplanned time off of work.

Nearly a fifth (18%) of UK workers said work stress had caused them to shut down and be unproductive, while nearly a third (30%) said they were able to handle some stress but that it still affected the quality of their work. Some 19% said a little bit of stress helped them focus and get work done, but only 3% said their best work comes from high-stress situations.

Patricia Duchene, vice president of sales and general manager of EMEA at Wrike, said: “Employers need to share in the responsibility for their employees’ wellbeing, particularly when it comes to stress. Stress is strongly linked to productivity. A fifth of all UK employees say stress in the workplace makes them twice as likely to switch off or become less productive and that should worry business and government alike. Equally alarming is that 42% of UK workers say they regularly lose sleep because of work-related stress.”