Are these the most stressful jobs in Europe?

Global uncertainty and increasing cutbacks at work may be making it harder to find a job. At the same time, the rising cost of living is making it even more important for people to hold on to their current jobs, even if sometimes they are too stressful. 

Personal injury claim company Claims.co.uk has put together a report highlighting what it found to be the most stressful jobs in the UK. It used Health and Safety Executive (HSE) data from the UK government for the report.

The data collected information on self-reported rates of depression, stress and anxiety for which the respondent saw their current or most recent job as primarily responsible. 

From that information, police officers were found to be the most stressed in the UK with social workers and welfare and housing professionals also found to be feeling considerably stressed. Almost one in 50 people said that their job had a negative impact on their mental health. 

Elsewhere in Europe, research conducted by Lepaya, a training company, across the Netherlands, Belgium, the United Kingdom and Germany highlighted that two-thirds of European employees were stressed. Education and healthcare were two sectors responsible for the most employee stress. 

A spokesperson for Claims.co.uk said in the study: “The findings bring to light job roles throughout the UK that detrimentally affect the mental health of employees.

“Police officers, social workers, and welfare and housing associate professionals are notably associated with higher stress levels. 

“Factors such as long hours, high responsibilities and public-facing roles appear to contribute significantly to an employee’s mental health being negatively impacted. 

“Encouraging regular breaks, offering mental health resources, and promoting open communication can help employees manage their mental health more effectively.

“Flexible working arrangements (where possible) and access to well-being programs are also steps that can have a significant impact in reducing work-related or induced mental health issues.”

Lack of life-work balance

In several cases, much of the work stress comes from the fact that the boundaries between work and personal life are getting increasingly blurry, partly because of the rise of remote working. In a lot of cases, the type of job and industry also makes it harder to ever be completely unavailable, such as emergency services. 

Todd Davison, MD of Purbeck Personal Guarantee Insurance, also said in a YouGov survey: “Fully switching off is not a choice for some people. This is particularly true amongst the small businesses we work with – if you have a passion for your work, that is not going to stop at 5pm each night or at the start of a holiday.”

Education and healthcare amongst most stressful jobs in Europe

The Lepaya study found that 56% of Dutch employees described themselves as stressed, along with 67% of employees in Belgium. Some 70% of UK employees also said they were stressed, as well as 71% of German employees. 

In Germany, education, the car maker sector, healthcare, public services and finance were some of the most stressful sectors to work in.

Employees in the Netherlands also voted for healthcare, education and public services as some of the most stressful sectors, along with catering and information and communication jobs. 

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In the UK, apart from police, social and welfare and housing jobs, nursing jobs were also considered as being some of the highest-stress ones. Working in education also fell into this sector, affecting teaching professionals across primary, secondary and higher education. 

Human resources jobs, and national government administrative ones also had high levels of stress. 

According to 29% of the Dutch employees surveyed by Lepaya, the employee themselves were mainly responsible for solving or preventing high amounts of work stress. This sentiment was echoed by 47% of Belgian employees, as well as 49% of UK ones and 51% of German ones. 

However, some 57% of Dutch employees also revealed that they would like to be receiving more support from their employers in handling work stress, with 57% of German employees also feeling the same. 67% of Belgian employees and 65% of UK ones agreed with this as well. 

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The HSE’s chief executive, Sarah Albon, said on the HSE website: “Preventing or tackling work-related stress can provide significant benefits to employees, improving their experience of work and their overall health; and also to employers including increased productivity, decreased absenteeism and reduced staff turnover.”

London and Amsterdam among most burnt-out cities in Europe

London bagged the top spot for the most burnt-out city in Europe, according to a study by Instant Offices which highlighted that 91% of British workers have dealt with “high or extreme” amounts of stress in the past year.

Some 20% of UK employees also had to take time off work during this period because of the mental health effects of this stress. 

The study was based on the number of Google searches for burnout sentiment including burnout at work.

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London had 2,240 Google searches for burnout related topics per month. Other European cities such as Amsterdam and Berlin were also not far off, with 520 and 420 Google searches respectively for these topics per month. 

Some of the top reasons for the high levels of stress, which can sometimes lead to burnout, were a high workload, as well as a rise in unpaid tasks. Working too much unpaid overtime on a regular basis also contributed to this, as did feeling isolated at work.

Similarly, anxieties about job security and redundancy also caused a lot of stress, along with accepting more paid work because of financial concerns. In some cases, intimidation and bullying by colleagues also added significantly to stress levels.

Signs of burnout included difficulty concentrating, losing sight of goals, a decreased sense of pride in your work and a loss of motivation.

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Other signs include fatigue, frustration, unexplained headaches and changes in appetite or sleep habits, amongst others.