Women stressed at work
Cigna, a global health service company and provider of health services to employers, has found that workplace pressures and pressure at home are leading to working women feeling more stressed than men.
The annual Cigna 360 Well-Being Survey found that 79 per cent of women feel stressed versus 66 per cent of men – and what is more, 10 per cent of women find their stress ‘unmanageable’. The reasons behind this stress were found to be heavy workloads (17 per cent), personal health (13 per cent) and financial concerns (13 per cent), while a whopping 78 per cent of women said they are not getting enough sleep.
The survey also discovered that women don’t feel supported in the workplace. Indeed, 62 per cent of women said that their employer did not have a formal workplace wellness programme in place and 44 per cent said that they believe senior management lacks commitment to providing workplace wellness support.
Phil Austin, CEO of Cigna Europe, highlighted the importance of workplace wellness programmes: “It’s evident from our research that women are finding it difficult in today’s society to balance work and life, resulting in higher levels of stress compared to men, so we’re calling on employers to take action. We believe that sustained and evidence-based improvements to wellness programmes will create a less stressed working environment, within which women will be happier and more productive.”