According to a Credit Suisse survey fifty percent of all employees suffer from considerably more stress than five years ago. Therefore, they are substantially limited in their performance and often suffer from ill health.
It is easy to derive how heavily the health and welfare systems are impacted by these circumstances. According to the Association of Work Medicine the costs in Switzerland alone amount to 4.2 billion Swiss Francs per annum and they are certain that this number will still increase heavily.
A recent study by OBSAN (Swiss Health Observatory) indicates that Swiss organizations suffer 18 billion Swiss Francs of costs which is generated by stress related psychological illnesses. One third of this cost is generated by absenteeism, two thirds by reduced productivity.
Health survey in Switzerland (in the year 2002) (19'700 participants)
-> 44% suffer of strong neural tensions at the workplace (men: 47% / women: 41%)
-> 38% women and 21% men who suffer of stress have severe physical ailments. Only 20% women and 13% men of those who do not suffer of stress complain about physical ailments.
Survey on job related illnesses in the European Union (in the year 2000) (21'500 participants)
-> 1st rank: 33% of employees: back pains
-> 2nd rank: 28% of employees: illnesses caused by stress
