Here's Why American Workers Are So Stressed Out

SANTA MONICA, CA – The American workplace is physically and emotionally taxing, and workers are frequently facing unstable work schedules, unpleasant and hazardous conditions and an often hostile social environment, according to a study that examined working conditions in the United States.

Research conducted in 2015 by investigators at the nonprofit RAND Corp., Harvard Medical School and UCLA led to the findings of the American Working Conditions Survey, according to a RAND statement.

More than one in four American Workers say they have too little time to do their job, and that complaint was most common among white-collar workers, according to a RAND statement released alongside the study. And workers say the intensity of their work frequently spills over into their family lives, with about half reporting they perform some work in their free time to meet workplace demands.

The survey also found that:

• Most Americans (two-thirds) frequently work at high speeds or under tight deadlines, and one in four perceives that they have too little time to do their job.
• More than one-half of Americans report exposure to unpleasant and potentially hazardous working conditions, and nearly one in five American workers are exposed to a hostile or threatening social environment at work.
• Four out of five American workers report that their job met at least one definition of "meaningful" always or most of the time.
• The majority of Americans — eight out of 10 — have steady and predictable work throughout the year.
• Nearly three-fourths of Americans report either intense or repetitive physical exertion on the job at least one-quarter of the time.
• While a large proportion (62 percent) hold jobs whose tasks are typically monotonous, an overwhelming majority of American workers views "solving unforeseen problems" and "applying own ideas" as integral parts of their jobs (82 and 85 percent, respectively). Similar percentages say their jobs involve complex tasks (70 percent) and learning new things (84 percent)
• Workers appear to have a certain degree of autonomy, most feel confident about their skill set and many receive social support on the job.
• More than one-half (58 percent) of American workers describe their boss as supportive, and 56 percent say that they have very good friends at work.
• Only 38 percent of workers state that their job offers good prospects for advancement.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Emily Holland contributed to this post

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