A quarter believe that line managers now spend 3-10 hours a week dealing with stressed employees, while one in 10 thinks that more than a quarter of working time lost to sickness absence is stress-related.

According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD), work-related stress costs UK industry £3.7bn a year and can lead to absenteeism, low morale and poor business performance.

Further CIPD research reveals that in the print and paper industry the average number of days lost through absence per employee each year is 7.1, with the average cost of sickness absence per employee per year at £725. In a firm of 100 employees, that amounts to £72,500 a year.

In Human Resources’ survey, work overload, lack of control and badly managed organisational change were the main factors blamed for work-related stress.

Overload was seen as a particular problem, with 85% of respondents citing this as a main cause of stress in their organisation.

Colin Gibson, production director at London-based large-format firm McKenzie Clark, told PrintWeek that stress levels were definitely on the rise. He said the company had recently recruited an HR specialist and stress management was high on the priority list.

“We work mainly with blue-chip companies in the retail industry, which are all having their budgets cut but still require the same quality and quantity of graphics to promote their products.

“This increases stress in all areas, from production managers to printers, finishers to packing and despatch. When the pressure is on, stress levels go through the roof.”

Gibson added it was important to monitor the situation. “We operate a 24-hour shift pattern so the workload can be spread over shifts.”

---

STRESS STATISTICS
67% of directors consider stress more of a problem than a year ago
£3.7bn annual cost to UK industry of work-related stress
7.1 days of absence per employee per year in print
85% cite work overload as main cause of stress