According to Statistics Canada, eight per cent of Canadian workers are not very or not at all satisfied with their jobs. "Job stress, shift work and lower incomes were all factors associated with job dissatisfaction," the organization mentioned.
Furthermore, the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey, also conducted by Statistics Canada, found that more than one million adults had experienced a major depressive episode in the year of the survey interview. Of these people, 70% had a job. "For workers of both sexes," reported the organization, "high stress on and off the job was associated with depression."
Paradox or social fact, on-the-job stress mainly affects men, with women being more affected by their living conditions overall. Job constraints and stress have a greater effect on the health of men than of women,” says Statistics Canada’s Ron Gravel, “while the stress associated with having to wear many hats, which includes family constraints, marks women more than men.”
These surveys confirm the relevance of employers’ concern for the mental health of their employees. Last year, a study by Watson Wyatt Canada showed that it ranked top in the health and productivity-related concerns of organizations, ahead of the aging workforce.
For more information
- Source: Health Reports: Job satisfaction, stress and depression, The Daily, Statistics Canada, October 17, 2006
- The prelude to burn-out: burn in, HRjob.ca, André Giroux, January 26, 2006