Over half of NL employees experience unhealthy levels of work stress

More than half of workers in the Netherlands said they experience an unhealthy level of stress at the job. For some, returning to the office after a long period of time working from home can increase anxiety. Some 56 percent of workers said they were too stressed out according to a recent survey by training center Lepaya.

“More than a quarter of employees in the Netherlands expect that returning to the office will increase their stress levels”, said René Janssen, the director of Lepaya, in an interview with AD.

Lepaya surveyed 1,300 workers in Europe. In comparison to other European countries, the situation in the Netherlands was not as bad as elsewhere. In Germany, 71 percent of workers said they experience high levels of stress. In the United Kingdom, that percentage lay at 70 percent and in Belgium at 67 percent.

In the Netherlands, the work culture is less hierarchical which gives employees an opportunity to be able to articulate issues easier. “This allows workers in the Netherlands to raise a problem quicker. Germans, for example, are less likely to do this", Janssen said.

“We see that Dutch employers have a greater eye for soft skills and the human aspect of the job”, Janssen explained. “I often do not have to explain to Dutch employers how important communication, and attention to human relationships, is in the workplace.”

A quarter of respondents in the Netherlands believe that the responsibility to reduce work stress rests in their own hands. In neighboring countries, that percentage can be almost twice as high.

That is already a step in the right direction, according to Janssen. “But we’re not there yet. The fact is that more than half of the workers say that things can still be done better.”

“Both employer and employee must take responsibility for addressing stress and showing understanding for the other party. The employer must accept this is the modern way of living. Take a critical look at whether only the symptoms of stress in the workplace are being targeted or whether fundamental action is taken to create a healthy working environment in the long term.”