 Impact of Stress on Organizations Job stress is estimated to cost the American industry 200 to 300 billion dollars annually. In 1992 a UN report called job stress “THE 20TH CENTURY EPIDEMIC”. In 1996 the World Health Organization (WHO) called job stress a worldwide epidemic. Job stress is more likely to become chronic stress because it is a major part of our daily life. Chronic stress can manifest itself in the form of physical and emotional ailments. This reduces worker’s effectiveness by increasing the risk for illness, accidents, absenteeism and employee turnover. The European agency for safety and health at work reported that over half of the 550 million working days are lost annually in USA from absenteeism are stress related. In 1999, 320 million pounds was won in compensation by union on behalf of members who had suffered illness or injury at work. The traders union Congress specifically sited “Stress” as an issue. According to a survey of 800,000 workers in over 300 companies, the number of employees calling in sick because of stress tripled from 1996-2000. In Pakistan no such research has been conducted but the symptoms are evident. Today’s global businesses environment is becoming more and more competitive. Sudden and unpredictable changes in economic and political areas of the world bring uncertainty and affects businesses in ways, which can be devastating for companies. In order to keep pace with the changes companies make demands on individual performance, which leads to job stress. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is the federal agency in USA, responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for prevention of work related illnesses and injuries. It published a report in the 1990’s, which stated.
Treating stress not only has benefits for the individual but also for the employer. NIOSH has also reported that now about one half of all the major companies in USA provide some type of stress management training for their work forces. It is difficult to change the organizations or to change the environment
or to take off the pressures of increasing competition and demand
of work but it is easy to master the stress management techniques
and reduce the stress at job. It also has the advantage of being
inexpensive as compared to the cost that the company has to pay
in the form of high absenteeism, reduced productivity, high turnover
and high cost of medical bills.
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