|
Booming business is bad for health
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-04-13 09:33 It is well documented that when a company is on a
downward spiral, the health of its workers suffers.
But a new Swedish study suggests that employees can also fall ill from worry
and stress when their firm is on the upswing.
 |
| More staff in the office may not be cause
for celebration. [AFP] | Staff in offices where
the workforce is rapidly expanding are hospitalized more and have longer sick
leave than those in firms who are not, according to research published in the
British medical weekly, The Lancet.
The same study also found that women in the public sector suffer the most
from a burgeoning payroll.
"Expansion is usually thought to imply high job security and a positive
successful context, which should promote good health," said researcher Hugo
Westerlund.
"However, a large and rapid expansion could lead to problems, such as
difficulty in recruiting enough qualified personnel and a generally unstable and
less than ideal organizational structure."
One reason for the results, Westerlund says, may be that in rapidly growing
corporations workloads tend to outpace the headcount.
Bosses sometimes cannot replace people quickly enough, so employees take on
more work leading to a rise in sick leave.
The study by Sweden's National Institute for Psychosocial Medicine looked at
the long-term medical absences among 24,000 employees, from 1991-96.
They found that corporations that were hiring rapidly -- growing their staff
numbers 18 percent or more per year -- had the highest levels of long-term sick
leave of 90 days or more, including hospital admissions.
And workers exposed to repeat cycles of office expansion were seven percent
more likely to have taken long-term sick leave and nine percent more likely to
be hospitalized, compared to workers not put in that situation.
An editorial in the Lancet commented on the research saying, "modern
employees are expected to be flexible, open to change and accept that a
long-term relationship with an employer can no longer be expected."
"(But) surely there are many employers of high integrity, who understand that
people are their greatest asset, and treat them accordingly."
In response to the survey Dr. Lewis Pepper of the Boston University School of
Public Health, who has also done research on downsizing, told Health Day news
that, "economic expansion...does not guarantee a positive outcome."
"The less control individuals have over their work process and workplace, the
more likely it is that their health status will be affected negatively."
Westerlund suggests that managers can help their employees in cycles of
growth by involving workers in any changes to prevent them feeling out of
control.
He also told Reuters news agency that companies should consider taking a
break in between rounds of reorganization, so that people can settle into the
new structure.
And by linking up with doctors or psychologists who treat employees in an
office, they may be able to single out and address those who might be most at
risk from expansion, he says.
| |
 |
|
|
|
|
Today's
Top News |
|
|
|
Top World
News |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
