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First of all, the good news: the working population in Switzerland feels less stressed at work than last year, as the Travailsuisse trade union’s “Good Work Barometer” shows. In the representative survey, 41.7 percent said they were often, or even very often, stressed by their jobs. A decrease of 1.3 percentage points. However, in a long-term comparison, stress levels remain high. It’s also not very encouraging: Stress is affecting survey respondents more than ever. 41.3 percent often feel emotionally drained after work.
Private lives are increasingly subject to stress: 36.8 percent say they are often so tired after work that they can no longer attend to private or family matters. Numerous workers reported to Blick that they were under high levels of psychological stress at work. Some even experience burnout as a result. Almost no one wants to talk about it publicly; The employer’s fear of negative consequences is very great.
Markus Ryser (55) is an exception. He is a baker and runs the Ryser bakery Konditerei in Hilterfingen BE. Since he is his own boss, he does not need to fear any consequences. “I’m in clinic right now due to burnout,” Ryser says. Discussing the taboo subject is important for the master baker.
Not his first burnout
Running a small bakery is difficult. Profit margins are low and competition from major suppliers, including the retail sector, is fierce. “I usually work twelve to 13 hours a day,” Ryser says. “Currently the budget does not allow me to hire more staff to lighten my workload and have more or less normal working hours,” he says. Ryser employs eight people in production and 18 part-time employees in sales.
The enormous workload continues to take its toll on Ryser’s health. He had to go to the clinic several times due to burnout. For this reason, he was away from the field for eight weeks in 2014. “I feel better for a while afterwards,” he says. He is currently in the Hasliberg rehabilitation clinic in the canton of Bern. “This was only possible because I could rely on a well-rehearsed team and we are currently in the off-season,” he emphasizes.
Even if a hospital stay helps, the pressure is still great. Some time ago, it was the Corona epidemic that Ryser had to temporarily close the cafe in the store in Hünibach BE and a large part of the customers in the catering sector disappeared and therefore a significant income was lost. And then there’s the ongoing responsibility he has to his employees. Securing a job, paying wages: This can also lead to psychological fatigue.
Zero thoughts despite heart attack
Thomas K.* also suffers from constant overload in his job as a project and construction manager. “I have to manage a lot of projects,” he tells Blick. K. lives in the canton of Aargau and wishes to remain anonymous because he is a few years away from retirement and is afraid of losing his job.
Stress often means having trouble sleeping. Six years ago K. was hospitalized. “Doctors discovered I had two silent heart attacks within a few days. “I believe stress is responsible,” he says. A silent heart attack often goes unnoticed for days or months, but has the same consequences as a classic heart attack. Circulation problems cause parts of the heart muscle to die.
The workload has not changed since then. “Management didn’t pay any attention, even when I mentioned stress in the employee interview,” says K., disappointed.
A third of survey respondents want to work less
According to a survey by Travailsuisse, more than 60 percent of employees regularly have to sacrifice their free time in order to continue their work. So it’s no surprise that almost a third want to reduce their workload. This is especially true for people with high workloads.
However, it seems unlikely that employers will be satisfied with the reduction in working hours. The economy is suffering from a shortage of skilled workers. But dissatisfied employees can exacerbate this problem: 15.5 percent say they are seriously considering changing jobs due to stress. According to estimates, this translates to more than 800,000 workers.
*Name changed
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
