Stress takes costly toll at work

Employers in Hampton Roads saw $1.1 billion in lost productivity in 2019

Few of us need an academic report to tell us workplaces these days are heavy with stress and anxiety. We are living through it. But this year’s State of the Region report from Old Dominion University offers useful insights into how serious the problem is here in Hampton Roads. It shines a light on a problem that’s bad and getting worse. Fortunately, it also suggests some strategies that might help.

Stress and anxiety about work take a toll on many people, both at work and when they take their worries home with them. What the ODU report makes clear is that the stress and anxiety also take their toll on the workplace and the bottom line.

The report uses established data on how many adults report feeling worried or anxious and on what the cost of stress is per worker each year. According to its calculations, stress and anxiety cost employers in Hampton Roads 60 million labor hours and $1.1 billion in lost productivity in 2019 — 1% of the region’s total economic activity.

Those costs come as both direct medical costs and lost productivity, as workers take sick days, quit their jobs or are distracted and less effective while working.

The takeaway is clear: Finding ways to reduce and manage stress and anxiety is the humane and thoughtful thing to do, for employers as well as workers. Doing so also makes good business sense.

One of the most troubling aspects of the report is this: It’s looking at 2019 — before the COVID-19 pandemic changed so much about the ways we work, sending stress levels soaring. The ODU report says that for some people, COVID-19 is a mental health crisis as well as a public health crisis.

As businesses have closed or slowed, many people have lost their jobs or worked only erratically. Those people are worried about basic things such as paying their bills, figuring out how to file for unemployment and being able to feed themselves and their families. Others worry about how long their jobs will last.

Often, the jobs that pay least are those that expose workers most to possible infection.

People whose employers don’t provide health insurance are more worried than ever that illness could be financially as well as physically devastating.

We’re having to learn new ways of doing things and deal with guidelines about health and sanitation. Many have to wear masks. Some work behind Plexiglass shields. There are rules about gathering in break rooms and other areas.

Other people have been working from home, and that also has its stresses.

People must learn to deal with virtual meetings and expectations that because of advanced technology, they will work faster and respond immediately to superiors.

Often, working from home means having to balance the needs of children with those of the job. And for many people, working from home means feelings of isolation, loneliness and helplessness.

Now that we don’t have it, we’re realizing the value of office banter and chats around the coffee machine. We can’t even see smiles, because they are behind masks.

What’s to be done? As individuals, we need to remind ourselves that work isn’t everything, and that we need a healthy balance between work and the rest of our lives. That means remembering to eat right and exercise, and to take some time off even if we can’t take the sorts of vacations we normally do.

Employers can help by recognizing the importance of such balance and adopting policies that foster it. Providing fair pay and benefits is crucial. In these uncertain times, trying to keep employees at work on reasonably predictable schedules is another. Employee assistance programs and attentive Human Resources managers can help. So can policies that make it easier for employees to care for their children when schools or daycares are closed.

The ODU report reminds us that by helping employees reduce stress and anxiety, employers can also help them be more productive. When that happens, everyone benefits.