Feel under pressure at work?
Don’t worry, it’s not just you. Across the board, workers are feeling the pressure. New studies have shown that the UK workforce is working harder than ever but productivity has started to flatline. Today on the blog we’re looking at the reasons why we’re now under more pressure than ever at work, including poor resources and the evil necessary of technology.
New Survey Results
The Skills & Employment survey, a joint project between Cardiff University, University College London and The University of Oxford recently discovered that UK staff are now working harder than ever before. They are working harder and faster, with more and more workers heading home exhausted and worn out. The study paints the UK workforce in a good and bad light. It shows that we are committed, hardworking and determined. It also highlights that UK workers have less control in the workplace and that people are less anxious about losing their jobs than in previous years.
Working Hard But Standing Still.
We might be working harder, but the study shows that we’re still “standing still”. But what does that actually mean? Well, we might be working harder, but we don’t have the equipment or skills to become more efficient at what we do to alleviate the pressure. Think about it, have you ever asked your boss about upgrading your computers that always crash, or upgrading your internet that lags everyday? Got till systems that breakdown frequently? That’s exactly what we mean by standing still. You might be working hard, but your work environment and equipment is holding you back.
Feel under pressure outside of the workplace.
Technology has been described as a necessary evil. Could you imagine a workplace where you couldn’t communicate via email. You had to make all calls from a land line and text messages and video conferencing still didn’t exist? We dread to think what it would be like. As more and more technologies have been introduced to the workplace over the past 30 years or so, it’s becoming hard and harder for us to become uncontactable. You’re getting E-mails right before you go to bed, you get work text messages as you sit down to eat your dinner. It’s making workers feel like they’re unable to switch off because they feel under pressure to respond instantly. We’ve written about ‘switching off’ and the importance of work-life balance here if you want to know more.
Do you feel under-pressure at work? How do you cope with it? Let us know in the comments or hit us up with your thoughts on social media! We’d love to hear from you!
