your How other cultures find relief from work stress. Deadlines and goals to meet, performance expectations to measure up to, partners and employees to get along with, hectic commutes, technical difficulties, worries about business success, the struggle to achieve a decent work/life balance — it all adds up to stress. If you work in a high-pressure career or industry, you already know what it feels like to experience occasional bouts of job-related emotional, mental and sometimes even physical distress. A small amount of stress can actually be a positive motivator, keeping us excited and on our toes, but studies show that Americans are putting in longer hours and working harder now than ever before, and it’s definitely taking a toll.
The costs of stress
According to statistics from the American Institute of Stress, more than 80 percent of workers report feeling some amount of stress while on the job, with workload and people issues cited as the biggest stressors. Work-related stress also costs U.S. employers and industries $300 billion annually through accidents, absenteeism, employee turnover, medical and legal liabilities, and workers’ compensation payouts.1 Work stress is personal. While certain professions and geographic job locations do tend toward more inherently stressful conditions than others, your own abilities to manage and cope with stress are the main factors that determine the degree to which it affects you.
How other countries address stress
Employees around the world sometimes seem to do a better job than Americans at finding ways to escape the grind and lower their stress levels. Take a look at how other cultures unwind. • Paid vacation is the rule and not the exception in many European Union countries, and workers don’t feel the least bit guilty about using it wisely. In France, for example, labor laws dictate that employees receive a certain amount of paid leave for each month worked, totaling around five weeks each year, in addition to
