More than half of Swedes feel that their work is mentally demanding, according to a new report. One in five feel they often work under time pressure.
The proportion of Swedes who say they have a sedentary job has risen from 25% to 41% over the past twenty years, while the proportion who say they have a mentally demanding job has risen by 9 percentage points over the past decade, from 43% to 52%.
In addition, some 60 percent say they often work under time pressure, according to new figures from Statistics Sweden compiled by ManpowerGroup. This is the highest percentage since the report was first conducted in 1980.
– It is worrying that so many Swedes feel they are working under worse conditions. Often working under time pressure and mental stress quickly becomes a working environment problem that affects the ability to do a good job, says Mikael Jansson, CEO of ManpowerGroup, in a press release.
In addition, the proportion of people who say they find it difficult to disconnect from work when on holiday has risen from 29 to 43 percent over the past 20 years.
Among women, 57 percent say they are mentally stressed at work, compared with 49 percent of men. The difference between the sexes is more pronounced in the health sector, where 73 percent of working women consider their work to be mentally stressful, compared with just under 63 percent of men.
Statistics Sweden’s report “Work Environment 1980-2022” is based on statistics from the Survey of Living Conditions (ULF), which describes the living conditions of the Swedish population aged 16 and over in areas such as health, finances, employment and work environment.