The push for greater productivity is having negative results as the costs of workplace stress and depression continue to rise, according to a new study by the International Labour Organization.
The study of workforces in Finland, Germany, Poland, the United States and the United Kingdom, estimates that in the European Union, anywhere from three to four per cent of GNP is spent on mental health problems and between US$30 to $44 billion is being spent to treat depression in the United States.
While the origins of mental illness are many and complex, evidence suggests there are a number of common threads that link the prevalence of stress, burnout and depression to changes in the labour market brought on by globalization.
In recent years, workers have had to deal with the rapid introduction of technology, workplace rationalization and reorganization, as well as dramatic social and political upheavals, in Poland for example. While not condemning these developments, the report points out that greater autonomy and decision-making responsibilities enjoyed by employees also lead to increased time pressure, tighter deadlines and increased demands in terms of quality and quantity of production. In the U.S. and U.K., where unemployment has been relatively low, inexorably rising productivity requirements also put a great deal of pressure on workers.
•In the U.S., clinical depression affects one in 10 working age adults resulting in a loss of approximately 200 million working days each year.
•In Finland, more than 50 per cent of the workforce suffers from some form of stress-related trouble and seven per cent of workers suffer from severe burnout and mental health disorders.
•In Germany, depressive disorders account for almost seven per cent of premature retirements. The volume of production lost due to absenteeism related to mental health is estimated at more than 5-billion DM annually.
•In the U.K., nearly three out of every 10 employees experience mental health problems, with depression so common that any given time one in 20 working-age Britons are suffering depression.
•In the U.S., clinical depression affects one in 10 working age adults resulting in a loss of approximately 200 million working days each year.
•In Finland, more than 50 per cent of the workforce suffers from some form of stress-related trouble and seven per cent of workers suffer from severe burnout and mental health disorders.
•In Germany, depressive disorders account for almost seven per cent of premature retirements. The volume of production lost due to absenteeism related to mental health is estimated at more than 5-billion DM annually.
•In the U.K., nearly three out of every 10 employees experience mental health problems, with depression so common that any given time one in 20 working-age Britons are suffering depression.
The report also found workplaces have begun to come to terms with the problem.
