Organisational Behaviour For Dummies

Chapter 21

Ten Stressful Occupations

In This Chapter

Exploring job content and stress

Listing the most stressful jobs

Some jobs are more stressful than others because of the demands they place on the people working in them. Examples of these demands include a lack of control at work, excessive workloads, and the need for employees to engage in emotional work in order to perform their jobs successfully. Emotional labour (see Chapter 7) is a part of almost all the stressful occupations we list in this chapter, suggesting that emotional labour is an important component of what makes jobs stressful. In Chapter 7, we explain what makes emotional labour stressful and offer tips for managers to reduce employee stress. Also check out Chapter 6 for more on what can cause stress at work and for advice on monitoring and managing workplace stress.

Research carried out by Lancaster University and the Universities of Manchester and Liverpool, in the UK, studied more than 26 occupations for their psychological and physical stress levels. They found the following top ten occupations where people reported high levels of stress. All these occupations, rank highly on lack of physical wellbeing, lack of psychological wellbeing, and job dissatisfaction. The causes may be different, as you see in the ...