Extreme levels of stress felt by one-third of employees, says survey

Stress levels in the workplace are inching upward for Canadians, according to survey results from Morneau Shepell.

Research from the human resources consulting firm reveals 34 per cent of employees and 40 per cent of employers reported “extreme levels of stress” over the past six months.

Levels of stress among both those groups have increased three per cent over the past two years.

“We still have a long way to go because we still have a lot of employers where we struggle with what’s mental health versus what’s a performance issue,” Rochelle Morandini, partner at Morneau Shepell, told Business In Vancouver on Roundhouse 98.3.

“We’re certainly seeing much more progress with Canadian employers as they look to how they can address mental health and mental disorders in the workplace because they’re certainly seeing the costs and how it impacts [workers].”

The top reasons for stress include workload, longer workers, co-workers and job responsibilities, according to respondents.

Twenty per cent of managers and 18 per cent of employees with high workplace stress say they are likely to leave their organization due to these stress issues.

B.C. workers are doing better than most Canadians, with 29 per cent of respondents reporting high levels of stress, tying Quebec and the territories.

Workers in Ontario (41 per cent) and Manitoba and Saskatchewan (38 per cent) reported the most workplace stress.

The survey was conducted Aug. 28 to Sept. 7, 2017, with responses from 1,510 respondents in Canada.

torton@biv.com

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