Stress epidemic threatening NZ

A new survey suggests New Zealand may be facing a stress epidemic as employees struggle with bigger workloads and longer hours.

The third Wellness in the Workplace report – which covers almost five per cent of the nation’s employees – found that many are buckling under workplace pressure.

Sponsored Southern Cross Health and Business New Zealand, the survey found that 23 per cent of firms noted an increase in employee stress levels compared to 14 per cent in 2014.

Kirk Hope, the chief executive of Business New Zealand, said employers would be putting their businesses at risk if they failed to address workplace stress.

"[Staff] may be less productive, it might affect their mood [and] it may affect their relationships with their co-workers,” said Hope.

“It can really undermine the relationships within a workplace,” he continued. “Also, frankly, you want people to be happy at work.”

John Eatwell, an organisational psychologist and director with Strategic HR, said the inability to leave work behind is also a growing problem across the country.

"We've traditionally worked long hours, but now a lot of people have smart devices which gives them access to emails after hours,” he said.

“Although that's positive in terms of flexibility, it's also negative in terms of people feeling as though they can work all the time.”

Eatwell also said New Zealanders work longer than most, clocking in around 43 hours a week despite research pointing to 36 hours as the productivity sweet-spot.

"Our brain is actually a muscle and 20 per cent of the energy our body produces is used by our brain,” he explained. “If we're not giving ourselves breaks to switch off, then in fact we're going to be fatigued and less effective.”