The main causes of stress for employees worldwide are their financial situation (73%), clients (55%) and employees or co-workers (25%).
The study also sought possible solutions and found that 70% of Romanian respondents said flexible hours would be one way to alleviate stress. Some 40% argued that this would leave more time for the family, 70% said working flexible hours is cheaper than in fixed locations and 85% said it improves productivity.
On a global level, according to the study, it is far more likely for the employees of small businesses to be under stress on account of their clients (42%) than the employees of large companies (27%), but they are also less irritated with the management (20%) than their peers in big businesses (40%).
Ramona Iacob, Regus Market Team Leader, said in a press release that, globally, work-related stress is increasing, with more employees coming close to exhaustion. On the short term, as the staff faces health problems, insomnia and fatigue, this costs a business valuable employees and impacts its productivity. The long-term effects of this pressure are difficult to foresee and may be disastrous, she said.
The study polled 16,000 professionals all over the world.