Swiss professionals suffer from workplace related stress

60% of Swiss professionals suffer from workplace related stress – over half feel employers aren’t doing enough

Zurich/Geneva, July 2023

- 62% don’t think employers are doing enough to help combat it

- 46% of professionals say it is down to line managers to manage workplace stress, followed by senior leaders & HR (29%)

- 58% of professionals identify their company’s output as high, 29% note that it is low quality

Three in five employees have stated that their mental health has declined this year as a result of workplace stress.

Despite Swiss employers spending millions on wellness initiatives every year – increasing their spend by 20% since the pandemic - 62% of professionals still think that their employer is not doing enough to combat stress in the workplace.

Professionals at risk
According to a poll of 2’000 by recruitment firm Robert Walters Switzerland, 60% of professionals stated they have suffered from some form of workplace-related stress, which has been onset in 2023.

When asked how often they feel this way, a third stated ‘very often’ (35%), with a further 24% stating ‘somewhat often’, and 26% identified it as happening ‘sometimes.’ – Just 15% stated that they had not experienced any form of ‘reoccurring stress*’ at work this year. *stress-symptoms experienced more than 3 times for 7+ days at a time.

Whose responsibility is it?
When asked whose responsibility it was to manage workplace stress – 46% of professionals said it was down to line managers, followed by HR and senior leaders (29%) – with only 20% thinking it was down to the individual.

However, less than 13% of professionals feel employers are doing enough, a further 26% feel some efforts have been made, but they are lacking – whilst the majority (62%) state that employers simply aren’t doing enough.

Christian Atkinson, Director of Robert Walters Switzerland: “Swiss Employers spend an estimated CHF100-200 per employee on wellness initiatives & benefits every year – but our survey indicates they may only be applying a band-aid.

“Employers must strike the balance between not breaking the banks or piling pressure onto managers to solve workplace stress but still being proactive and listening to the needs of their employees.”

Causes and effects
If not addressed, workplace stress can snowball into higher turnover rates, levels of employee burnout, absenteeism and lower levels of productivity.

Indeed, 58% of professionals identified their company’s output as high – with almost a third noting it was of a low quality.

Christian Atkinson comments: “Workplace stress is something everyone in a business has a hand in creating – however it is down to line managers, senior leaders & HR to set the tone for how stress is handled.

“Simple interventions such as making sure workloads are manageable, setting realistic deadlines and making sure employees have access to support, safe spaces and relevant resources – can all help to alleviate pressure in the workplace as well as professionals’ day-to-day work life.”