Slashdot Mirror
Stress Costs U.S. $300 Billion a Year
jburroug writes "A new study, as reported in the New York Times claims that the stress of the modern always-on work environment is taking a far greater toll on the health of workers than previously believed, to the tune of $300 billion in lost productivity and increased health care costs in the U.S. alone."
Isn't that the same amount that people spend on porn? Hmmm.......
It's either on the beat or off the beat, it's that easy.
I moderate therefore I rule!
--
Just today there was an article about hypertasking.
Folks, shut off the cellphone, log out of the internet and leave work at work because you're slowly killing yourself with stress.
just make XanaxOTC!!
... now the fear of losing money @ the workplace due to stress will cause more stress, causing more money loss, and thereby creating a feedback loop that will kill us all.
I'd rather have this than a country like France's 35 hour work week and negative GDP growth and 15% unemployment.
That's a lot of money... how will we pay that... oh no oh no oh no....
I need a drink!! **
I'm laughing at clouds.
Geez, what a depressing and stressful article.
Being the most powerful, wealthiest nation in the world has a price.
That's because people in the US tend to work to much (sometimes for less money). Hope this shows the rest of the world not to follow that trend in favor of some inexistent productivity benefit.
Seriously.
However, I have to wonder what a high GDP growth and near-full employment are worth if you are dead.
Obviously there is a problem with ANY form of social engineering - it's untested, and has unpredictable results on society. We conservatives say this in response to welfare programs and affirmative action. Modern capitalism and the downsizing trend have social effects. That's not subject to argument. Instead of a knee-jerk conservative 'but it could damage productivity' response, how about taking a look at the problems instead?
HBI's Law: Frequency of calling others Nazis is directly correlated with the likelihood of the accuser being Communist.
After viewing that, I think I've just raised the cost of stress by another few thousand dollars.
...does not pay my health.
- no sig.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
....with their 4-6 weeks of vacations and holidays each year. We work about 25% more per year than do most Europeans.
I really do not understand why we Americans have let ourselves be brainwashed into SweatShopAmerica.
See my sig for links on how the social democracies of Europe fought and are still fighting for a better , less stressful workplace, for universal healthcare, and for a social welfare state/safety net that lets them less afraid of losing their jobs.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
"jburroug writes "A new study, as reported in the New York Times claims that the stress of the modern always-on work environment is taking a far greater toll on the health of workers than previously believed, to the tune of $300 billion in lost productivity and increased health care costs in the U.S. alone.""
What health care?
Lost productivity? Is that anything like "lost sales"?
The problem about anything that surveys the economic losses caused by productivity losses is that they're all vague measurements of approxiamate things that are then multiplied by a huge group of people. Really, what this means is that while there might be truth in the idea these statistics try to show, the numbers are almost completely bullshit. For example, let's suppose 100 million workers in the united states have air blowing hand dryers instead of paper towels in their restrooms. These dryers take longer than paper towels, let's say maybe a minute instead of 10 seconds. I would think it's fair to say that on average a worker makes 1.5 trips to the bathroom per day. So if the average hourly wage of these employees is something like 15 bucks, 10 seconds of paper towels is worth $0.0417, one minute of air drying is worth $0.25. That means that we're wasting ~$31 Million per day! That's billions per year! My God! Something has to be done!
How can I do all that, I'm too busy working.
Fortunately, stress is proving a boon to the health care industry, motivating $600M in additional revenue!
How is that post a troll?
We work too much, and are one of the most productive, and still our jobs go overseas.
No wonder we're stressed.
How can a country lose $300 billion in productivity and still be the most productive country in the world? Americans work longer hours, spend less time on vacation, work harder, and as a result your economy outpaces countries like Japan, whom you used to believe were insanely overworked.
This is another one of those monetary statistics that we can file under "overblown."
"No problem. I have the capacity to do infinite work so long as you don't mind that my quality approaches zero."-Dilbert
At my workplace, it is widely accepted to use a day of sick leave and call it a "mental health" day.
We all need to step away from the everyday crap and let our brain rest. Sometimes you need it and you usually come back to work energized and ready to finish the rest of the week.
Decent companies are forced to drug test their employees for harmless substances like THC.
.AU for good this time. My advice to americans... hmmm, get the fuck out of that madhouse now.
I tried my best to work in the u.s., but I couldn't hack it, just couldn't do it. Even the innocuous suggestion that we go down the pub for an ale during lunch raised some eyebrows and instilled fear in my coworkers. Why do the people working in corporate america have this attitude ? Is it just plain fear? Are you all so desperate to climb the corporate ladder that _living_ takes a backseat to it? Then the 60 and 70 hour workweeks, people taking work home with them for at least another dozen hours of unpaid work...
Absolutely ridiculous... I'm glad to be back in
The Buddists have one thing right - there is a Yin and a Yang to everything. Call it a dual edged sword, whetever - in our world, there is an upside and a downside to everything.
There will enevitably be many +5 (Insightful) comments about how we're being mowed down by "the Man, squeezing more blood out of us to make more money", but when you think about it, the reason for that is we all, in reality, want to be "the Man". We want the things they dangle in front of us, that require disposable income to acquire. "Ooooh, Shiny iPod/Beemer/Opteron" crosses our lips and we've bought into this system. Work more to get more things for our "leisure time", which ends up being non-existant. "If work hard, I'll get promoted and get that raise - then I'll get a life" used to be my mantra. Now, after my good paying job was killed and in essence just moved out of province in the name of profits, I'm fed up enough to say "Fuck you - as long as my family is warm, healthy, clothed and fed I'm happy".
Capitalism is good, it's the best system we've got, but like all things it can go too far. Don't forget why your toiling away - it's to make a life, not make money. Remember, there is a downside to everything - no exceptions.
Meh. Just Crown Royal influenced ramblings from a slightly bitter old man. On to our regularily scheduled bashing of "the man"...
Soko
"Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
France and most other European countries will give you far more unemployment benefits than American workers gets. In many EU countries, one could drawa years of unemployment if laid off. Try that here.
Plus, welfare is far more generous there.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Lazyness costs 900 billion, and can be a leading cause of stress for many "workers".
Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit choking idiots to death.
Mod me down if you want. I'll use my karma bonus this time to fend off your savage attacks. Ha ha! Take that.
Anyways...
What I find interesting is that if this were about another country, such as Germany, people would be speaking highly of the German people's work ethic, their productivity and their strength. When it's about America though, it's because we're greedy and don't know how to enjoy life (regardless of the fact that for some, work is enjoyable).
Now what if this article stated that the U.S. had the least stressful workers with the most leisure time? There would be endless comments citing this as evidence of American laziness and preoccupation with entertainment. No matter what, it is possible to interpret the data however one desires, to fit any man's personal slant.
Wealth is by defintion RELATIVE. The odds of becoming "The Man" are BY DEFINTION quite slim. For every McMansion in the suburbs of Big Metro, there are 10 middle aged Quickie Mart clerks hiding away in flyover country, where they escaped after the Big City busted them.
And that McMansion is usually mortgaged to the hilt....
eat shiat and bark at the moon
"Looks like a great time to be a stress-balls manufacturer."
Trust me. They're already stressed enough.
It seems quite evident that stress is a result of stronger pressure regarding performance, and this is again a result of tougher competition between companies. So naturally the employers try to squeeze out as much as possible out of their employees as they see it most beneficial. But what I cannot grasp is why they continue to do se even when it has been demonstrated again and again that having overworked and stressed employees doesn't improve efficiency! It may look like it in the short run, but at a point it turns, drastically.
If a company needs more work done, why not hire more qualified people and keep the working hours down? Overtime is compensated quite heavily and by hiring an extra person instead of all the compensation the company will not spend more money on the work force, more people will be working, and there would be less stress. Can it be this simple, or is there something that I am completely missing? If this had been the most efficient solution one would think it had been adopted as a standard in the constant fight in our capitalistic environment.
Mod parent insightful! This man is clearly taking a well-deserved break, and we should thank him for demonstrating by example. Now somebody, open the scotch, then I plan to drive home on the sidewalk.
but I'm so stressed now to think about something good!
They have more time off and work hundreds of hours less per year. That is a fact not open to debate.
And that did not happen by accident. The German people and their government arranged it that way.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
... cool, refreshing marijuana?
The redhead? I'd definately hit that, and I'm gay.
By simple addition of varoius studies scientists have caluclated that stress, sickness, smog, hippies and traffic congestion cost approx $5,000,000 per American per year.
Yet another fact we always knew but couldn't quantify. When are "they" gonna start listening to us plebes?
Fact. Google it. In 2002 (or was it 2003?), about 30% of all tax return had a gross income of less than $20K. And about 50% of all tax returns had a gross income of less than $35K. That is counting BOTH single and joint filers. Those people are working the longer hours with little vacation just like the rest of America, but it is a little hard to get all those SUVs on that pay. Let's fact it: we Americans do not make as much money as we like to pretend we do.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Trying to find a working proxy is pretty stressful, I must agree. I just troll from school or work.
Alcoholics Anonymous
See, that's at least two times you've done this now. Yesterday sometime
Of course, there is the chance that you are joking. I doubt anyone could type that bad and still be close enough for me to rad it intentionally.
And yes, this is way offtopic. I better post something related, insightfully if possible
See, this is the kind of thing that is a result of stress. 300 Billion a year is hard to imagine. This guy posting drunk to slashdot, cause he (maybe) drinks away the stress on weekends, that's something we can relate to. All that money is just speculation, but see what a little stress and a lot of alcohol will do to you? This is what's runing america.
SAILING MISHAP
Let's face it: the Europeans have their governments and media working on their side, while we Americans have our government and media working on the side of the investors and the corporations. Just like it was back in the days of slavery.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
" US are very too dumb, they will elect Bush and they stress, it's very funny!"
."
.they will elect Bush and they stress , , ,"
.it's very funny!"
The word you're looking for is "ironic", perhaps "sardonic". George W. Bush being president has been anything but funny.
" US are very too dumb . .
This part of your sentence does not translate well. The flaw in your grammar could, with a little allusion, be extended so that YOU (plural) are ignorant also.
" . .
The 'each and several states' send delegates to the appropriate state capitols in the second week of December. These electors will cast their votes for President and Vice President. http://www.fec.gov/pages/ecworks.htm
Individual citizens will vote of course, but the popular vote in a presidential election is only a barometer for the electors to gauge the political atmosphere. Additionally, many/most of us will not vote for Bush.
" . .
Maybe you'd like us to vote for isolationist Pat Buchanan?
See: https://www.cato.org/dailys/12-22-99a.html
Stuff that matters.
Stop measuring everything in terms of money!
In fact, measure things as rarely as you can get away with, whether it's your income, the number of friends you have, the size of your steak or the speed of your CPU.
Outsource our stress to India! They'd be glad to stress out at 1/3 the cost.
- Primary numbers are out to kill me
-- Mace only makes me hornier.
Stress might cost $300 billion, but a blowjob costs $10. Get a blowjob, chill out, and shut off CNN.
Out of touch executives are running the country (US) into the ground from within. They percieve a need to squeeze every penny into their quarterly EPS reports. CxOs will stop at nothing to look good on paper. Their shortsighted strategies combined with an out-of-touch lifestyle make life a living hell for a vast majority of their collective underlings. Their only concerns in life are:
1. Where do I park my boat? What? No valet service?!?
2. ???
3. PROFIT!!!!!
If executives were more entrenched and had more at stake there would be more coherent operations at work. CxOs need to have their livelyhood at stake in the same way the rest of us do in order to make the right decision. Nothing trickles down to the underlings. You might survive in this corporate culture by sucking up. 1 minute of "face time" has become much more important than fixing a problem or making an improvement. God help us all.
"Let's fact it: we Americans do not make as much money as we like to pretend we do."
True, but it makes for good politics (Slashdot and otherwise). As witnessed by his four to your two.
Now throw in the large debt load most have and put two and two together, and let the fun begin.
Man, you just said what I have trying to tell people for the last year: America is FUCKED!
I mean it, man. I was born here, and served in the military for America. But when I started comparing it to other countries (which I could finally do only with the Internet), I discovered that something is wrong with this country. And it is not something new. It is something that goes back decades. Or maybe even centuries.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Thats alot of folks ordering that stuff (i get the spam every day) if you divide it up.
;)
yummy
Proof that mods are gay?
Not sure.
This is something that the rest of the world has known for a long time, hence the tredition in Europe of going on a hollyday (of a few weeks) every year.
"Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
Cue the Libertarian/Republican Dog-Eat-Dog/Survival-Of-The-Fittest Trolls, claiming "the ones that are costing the $300 Billion a year is the poor, so the perfect solution is to eliminate the poor by letting them die off by taking their jobs away from them, after all it's natural selection, capitalism at it's finest. Besides the poor is worthless"
Want to avoid stress while on the job?
Just don't care!
Yea... that deadline is coming quick, but who cares? Which is more important? Some product getting out the door or your sanity and full head of hair?
Help Brendan pay off his student loans
Once upon a time, I worked for the Company Formerly Known as USWorst. That experience left me with more knowledge of both their database and their employee benefits program than I ever wanted to know. The stress of that position also left me with carpal tunnel syndrome, the beginnings of a whopping good ulcer, and stress-related dissociative attacks. (Literally, my brain was going on mini-vacations, and neglecting to take me along with it.)
Now, I own my own business. The pay isn't as regular, but my schedule is my own, and the unreasonable request list is pretty minimal. The carpal tunnel still flares up form time to time, but it's in remission without surgery. (Since I use my hands a lot, this is a critical point.) The other problems started to heal as soon as I escaped the toxic work environment. I'm not spending as much time sitting in a doctor's office, and nowhere near as much money on things like Pepto and pain relief nostrums.
So, yeah; not exactly news, but it's nice to see that somebody has quantified the impact that work-related stress has on people's lives.
Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
Not really sure what I'd do with it, but pretty sure it'd be stress free.
You only have one life. Do you want to spend it working overtime, putting cover sheets on TPS reports and dealing with control freaks in management? Working excessive hours will not make your penis/boobs larger or make you a better person.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
Just think of the long-term benefits if we all just follow the trend and work ourselves to death.
Fewer people on the highways
Fewer elders collecting retirement
No need to raise taxes on the beleagured wealthy to prop up social security
Cheers!
Wherever You Go, There You Are
for one thing: I'll take the 35 hour work week.
Also, they did NOT have negative GDP in 2003. It's close to zero, but it's not negative. Don't believe me? ask the spooks:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ fr.html
thirdly, their unemployment rate, while high, is not 15%. In 2003 it was 9.6%, again per the spooks.
Parent is a TROLL.
RS
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
That's me, the reporter who wrote the story. What fascinated me about this is that everybody knows that workplace stress is a problem, but you rarely see the dots connected. There's a lot of fascinating research out there -- especially the Scandinavian studies showing links between change in the workplace and illness. Anyway, I didn't mean to stress y'all out. But I have to say that I did think of slashdotters often while I was writing it...
"speaking only for myself since 1957"
Sure stress may cost $300 billion per year in related costs, but the absence of stress would eliminate at least half of the remaining $11,000 billion in U.S. GDP.
"It's an issue everywhere you go in the world," said Dr. Guy Standing.
That is soooo weird! That's why I'm on disability now, from too much standing!
sorry/. i just started rninking like 3 weeks ago.. id ont tjhink i need AA yet. altohugh alcoholism runs inthe fmaily
iom just trying tos ee what being drunk is klike. and i had way to much vodka tpongih.. ill never driubk agaiun bbbbbbbbb
I'd rather fight to give this guy a job, rather than a handout.
If you are drinking to get drunk AND drinking alone, you need AA. And if you know it runs in the family, why take the chance of falling into the ugly life of a drunk?
My father had a drinking problem, so I'm careful with my drinking.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
I survived the Dick Cheney Presidency 7 to 9 AM 7-21-07
I just recently graduated from college, started an internship, moved away from my home, and left everything that I knew with no idea what my future would be like.
Since then I have developed an ulcer, suffer frequent tightness of the throat, and am more scared, lonely, and depressed than I have ever been.
The odd part is that I love my job. Tomorrow I'm going back to see my girlfriend. Maybe my time with her will help me relax.
Fortunately, I'm unemployed now (laid off) so my stress doesn't hurt anyone's company or bottom line. :)
When I am not working I relish the fact that I am saving thousands ($USD) per month in taxes, so the lack of income really isn't that bad, since I don't aquire every "Ooooh, Shiny iPod/Beemer/Opteron" piece of crap that passes in front of me.
When I am working, I can easily take in $10 - $12K per month. Taxes eat almost half of it, but I always stash plenty away as a "stress reducer", for later.
There would be a lot less stress in the world if people didn't buy more than they could afford. I have zero credit card debt, and own my cars. I could have bought beemers, but paying cash for Toyotas is so much less stress. Plan to live on a "flippin burgers" income and just think of all the stess-reducing beer money you will have when you earn more!
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
...I was beginning to worry about the private health sector. I love neo-liberalism, the deserving always benefit!
insecurity asks the wrong question irritation gives the wrong answer
My heart attack in Feb 2003, ran to the tune of around $17000 ( hospital, angiogram, ER). My 35 years of working in the highttech field finally culminated in a life changing event. Doctors final Rx was that I have handled all that stress in a bad way. So, now I go hiking more, eat better, less booze, and less work. Will it make a difference? Who knows.
I fear I'm going to get stuck in a feedback loop of doom. This is causing me stress. Like its just the start of a chain reaction of stress we can't escape. www.geocities.com/James_Sager_PA my page rocks for neo philosophers.
God spoke to me.
Therefore it must be worth a year and a half of stress. Please read my page: www.geocities.com/James_Sager_PA
God spoke to me.
real unemployment 9.6%
It didn't used to be this way. It's the industrial revolution that has converted America from a country of Apprentiships and Entrepreneurs to a predominately "factory worker" population. If you weren't already the boss, you were working to get the skills to become your own boss, and how much stress do you suppose evaporates when you have true control over your own destiny? Sure, there'll still be rough spots, but not to have the axe in somebody elses hands hanging over your head. Calling your own shots, hours and such...
There needs to be a popular revolution back to that mentality, personally.
You need a FREE iPod Nano
I've recently been stressing out myself due to stress of trying to hide myself from stressing. It didn't work. I am still stressed out of stress! Say, anyone here invest STRS?
But this money, that goes into medical bills, out of business products, etc, is all circular. It's pumped back into the economy. The autonomy, stress and other medical expenses, getting drunk after work and all the rest of it, is part of the system. And the system works. At least so far.
- http://pakman.sytes.net/
I live in this society too and I don't feel any stress at all, I have plenty of time to acomplish my tasks, I deliver when it is required and I fix my schedule at convenience.
:D
I reallly don't get it, why so many people take pills to sleep, pills to wake up and pills to ignore everyone else.
Maybe it is the fact that I'm unemployed
But what about Europe: they are less stressed, but the Industrial Revolution started there!
The reason they are less stressed is because their governments have restrained the amount of leverage that employers may apply to the employee.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
Everyone drinks to get drunk, that's the whole point. As for drinking alone, what's wrong with that? Not everyone has people to drink with. Leave him alone, you're a boring puritan bastards.
Man, what a downer you are. ;)
Actually, you're right. She really is the one thing tying me down, not that I resent it. Truthfully, I think this fact speaks highly of her character. If I break up with her, I'm off to Thailand or Burma for ordination.
But don't forget the noble examples of the laity! Queen Mallika and Pasenadi Kosala come to mind. The Buddha himself praised dedicated and loving relationships, impermanent as they may be.
(Posting anonymously to avoid karma hit for going OT)
the over weight problem can be greatly improved by removing the cheap and poisonious sweatner of high frutose corn suryp from teh american diet (shown to increase triglicerides by 1/3)
the work place stress matter can be improved by removing the use of such things that inherently cause additional work, such a the use of any MS OS. For in the drive to make people need them, MS has incorporated the manifestation of the intelligence insulting user frustration function.
the solutions are clear, but the problem with implimenting them is two fold, one of which is money related (ie. HFCS is cheap cheap cheap), and the other is failure to communicate the solution (ie. MS marketing skill has nothing to do with honesty.)
Before someone mod me down as -1 OT (well, my karma is already pretty bad, so who cares!), I'd like to share some extra Gmail invites that I've got, without getting my mailbox getting bombed, so just get the links from here:
0 7&tid=126&tid=98&tid=1
http://blah.infosynaptics.com/
Anyway back on topic, is it any surprise the stress levels are rising all the time? Wasn't it just hours ago when we had the other news article http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/09/04/12442
With the bad economy, war on "terror", rising job demands, credit cards, debts.. well, you name it, America got it! It is really no wonder why life is getting more and more stressful!
On the bright side it is easier to get porn nowadays than anytime in history =)
Online backup with Mozy, sounds like Ozzie, but more!
Since I relieve my stress by chilling out, listening to the $20 million worth of CDs I ripped onto my computer.
but the absence of stress would eliminate at least half of the remaining $11,000 billion in U.S. GDP.
No wonder we're living in a welfare state. Looking at some of these links tells me exactly what I've always wanted to know.
In one form or another, the federal government alone will manage to tax your entire paycheck away from you.
+++ATHZ 99:5:80
In the immortal words of Kryten, "grind those balls, sir!"
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
There was an interesting article about the different mentality regarding work hours in Europe in the August issue of Business 2.0 entitled All Work, No Play? It Doesn't Pay. (hope this link works for everyone)
I think the subtitle speaks for it self : "European companies get it, but when will their workaholic American counterparts? Longer hours don't always add up to better work."
Workplace stress costs the nation more than $300 billion each year in health care, missed work and the stress-reduction industry that has grown up to soothe workers and keep production high, according to estimates by the American Institute of Stress in New York
Seems kind of useless to know that stress costs $300 billion per year without knowing the benefits of that stress. Surely some of this stress results in increased productivity. (I know I never get work done unless I have a deadline.)
Also, how much of this stress is preventable? Surely every culture has some degree of stress. How much would it cost to treat this baseline level of stress in the current American medical system? Without knowing that, it's impossible to tell to what extent this means Americans are really stressed out, or whether this is just another indication that we're relatively well-off and consume lots of expensive health care.
Workers who report that they are stressed, said Steven L. Sauter, chief of the Organizational Science and Human Factors Branch of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, incur health care costs that are 46 percent higher, or an average of $600 more per person, than other employees
Similarly, this could just reflect that those who have stressful jobs also have excellent health plans and thus consume more health care.
Business gets a $2 trillion (number pulled from nether regions) boost in profits by applying stress. $.3 trillion is a small price to pay, and it's not even business' burden to foot the bill.
Get real. Stress motivates, and it's an integral part of business strategy.
...in France, illegal or controlled substances are where the money's at. Stuff like deodorant, mouthwash, soap, laundry detergent...
Ya well stress may cost that much but SLEEP costs this country 5 trillion dollars every year!!!
And don't get me started on sadness, family time, pets, cars, life, pregnacy, happiness, football, video games, internet, being distracted, and haxor'ing!!!
Compared to those, stress is a minor money loser.
What I figure is best for this country is to simply eliminate all emotions what-so-ever. That and lots and lots and lots of methamphetamines.
The source of our weakness and loss or productivity is because of our human weaknesses.
My solution?
Eliminate all humanity thru a extensive proccess of cyboranization and re-education camps, followed up by ruthless military dominance of this sector of space.
It may take a while, and it may not happen in my lifetime, but hey! Goals are goals after all, and that's more then what I can say for most of you slackers around here.
YOU WILL BE ASSIMELATED! RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!
Umm... WTF did that come from? Oh well.. I wonder were my medication is at...
People want to keep their jobs. Gainful employment within the skillset isn't exactly going to fall in your lap in this country.
:)
As a rule, only shitty-paying, shitty jobs drug test. (as well as a few areas where it makes some degree of sense, like pilots...). A former roommate was a stockboy at a drug store and got tested at random. I subtitle video and I've never, ever been tested. I've also had a few drinks on the job from time to time, but it's usually on the boss's dime.
My job doesn't even come close to paying well, but I'll take a good amount of vacation, minimal responsibility, and a few weeks of OMFGWTF a year over being too OMFGWTF!!!!1ed to enjoy the paycheck. I like having enough energy at the end of a day to work on my own shit, and haven't been able to keep any job that takes that away from me.
If you think stress is expensive, see how much a trip to Hawaii costs.
Or, alternatly, see how much stress you're under when you don't have a job AFTER that vacation. I had a friend working at Accenture. He had 8 weeks vacation time due him(saved up), but he knew if he actually used it he'd probably wouldn't have a job when he came back.
___
It's the end of my comment as I know it and I feel fine.
Saying stress cost us $300 billion a year assumes our economy exists to maximize overall wealth and happiness. In point of fact, our economy is built around making a select few staggeringly wealthy. All enonomies throughout history have been. Right now we're not really noticing this because Globalization has allowed most people in developed countries to be comfortable w/o having that 1% of the populace who won't settle for less than their every desire compromise a few of the more extravagant ones.
But as the rest of the world developes, we're running into serious resource shortages. As these shortages start to be felt, the greedy won't scale back their extravagance, so the rest will be made to suffer. The stress will be increased, your health will go to hell. But it won't matter, since there are plenty of fresh bodies to replace you, just waiting to be used up. Right now this is an issue because society can afford to coddle it's workers while letting that 1% live like they always have (the phrase 'live like a king' didn't just come out of nowhere). Wait and see. The response to a study like this won't be treating workers better, it'll be discarding them faster.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I'm to stressed to think about this... Q.
Insert Signature Here
Seems like people will never get it though their heads that nobody benefits when you force people around just to make more cash. Of course, what you're thinking is 'oh, the guys upstairs benefit plenty' but nope, fewer people will want to work for them, those who do will only work the required minimum, and the presidents and managers lose money, gain stress, and of course think "omg this means we need to make life worse for the employees now!"
Yeah it's kinda pointless for me to write about it, but it seems like we've only progressed a few inches from the days when people were forced to work in mines.
I am NOT a number! I am a - oh wait, I'm number 761710. Look! 761710!
sleep nearly halves the world economy!
all those man hours lost; for what?
just so some fat cats can make money selling pajamas and pillows?!
so come on people, pop those caffeine pills and stop hindering the economy!
-judging another only defines yourself
those very stressed people buy Amercian prozac and use American shrinks then you aren't losing anything.
I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
--
Simon
Har har, lp again!
Ahh, you've found the essences of life!!
:-))
Maybe you've read a lot of spam...
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
Just sad some dick head sees it as Offtopic, it couldn't be more Ontopic
I'm glad to live in Europe where the wine is cheaper.
"The likes of Facebook and WhatsApp are free to those whose privacy is of zero value."
300 billion USD, eh?
It this a real, sane figure, or is it like FAST supposing every illegal copy of software would otherwise have been bought?
There is *no* critical assessment of this figure or the report which led to it, and the body of the article is a repetition of data which, again at face value, supports the notion that workplace stress is high and/or rising.
This is not news, it's not science; it's pulling numbers out of a hat ("I'll use *this* report") and then choosing anecdotes and isolated reports which back up the chosen POV.
It may be there is true in the assertation, but I would not be able to know this from this report.
--
Toby
The way I see it:
by Anonymous Coward on Sunday September 05, @13:37 (#10160635)
Yes, I'm very bored.
-ReK
md5sum -c reality.md5
reality: FAILED
md5sum: WARNING: 1 of 1 computed checksum did NOT match
You should be shot in your fucked head.
Interesting interpretation, but I think you kinda missed the whole point of the GP.
The idea is not that you reduce stress by stockpiling money instead of spending it, which may be a general difference between europeans and americans as pointed by a previous poster. In no way does that correlate to the amount of stress these people submit themselves to when acquiring said amounts of money.
No, friends, what the Buddhists along with several other less-respected-in-the-eyes-of-capitalism movements have figured out lies on a deeper level, and without going into detail, it involves realising that excessive greed for whatever reason is a serious hindrance on the path to true happiness.
Lookup the Broken window fallacy
Working for necessity's mother.
That's a really good idea for WASPs. If you're a minority, you'll have problems in the Midwest with racism, etc.
'Economic Security for a Better World' (ILO -International Labour Organization)
(5.49MB PDF)
password: universe
Don't you think corporations get more than $300 billion worth of labor from all this slavedriving? It's efficient for them to do this, that's why they do it. What's a couple of thousand heart attacks among the underlings compared to the CEO's big yacht?
We need a real labor movement in this country.
Real simple...if your job is too stressful for you, then you are there by your own choice and no one elses. Don't like the stress, you have options: Find a different job, learn to deal with it or, in my case, make hay out of it. I put in my eight hours at full tilt when the office has me but come M1ll3r T1m3, I forget the office. I do that so well that I forget who I talked to the previous day. The stress present is a useful tool and learning how to use it without getting to you is the key. Yes, the Europeans love their long vacations - you can't ever get your european business partner because they are always on Holiday. But we can fix issues far faster than they can because they are never around to do the honest work. They just ride on the laurels of others.
Stupid bogus statistics cost American businesses one trillion dollars a year in lost credibility.
You wrote:
>>>>>>>
This is something what I've been wondering for a while. Having American relatives and seen the work environment, it's hard for me to understand why do you accept the situation ?
>>>>>>>>.
Most Americans do not even know how good most Europeans. How would they know? Other than a few newspaper articles, the information is simply not commonly made available. However, there is a growing awareness of how good most Europeans have it. But then that knowledge is limited to the fact that most Europeans work fewer hours per year. But there are so many other differences, especially with regard to the social safety net.
AMericans simply cannot appreciate how much worry it takes off of your shoulders to know that if you cannot keep your job, you will not need to be homeless. Americans do not know that i most countries in Europe, if you do lose everything, even if you are an ablebodied young person, the govt will pay for housing and food. And AMericans are probably not aware of how little college students pay for their education in Europe (heck, I think denmark even pays for all housing and food and other expenses of all college students).
Also, Americans have been subjected to a very intensive regimen of propaganda from an early age. THey have been trained to think of other people are basically evil, and not to trust other people. Also, they have been bombarded with propaganda telling them that everyone can be rich in America, if only you work hard. How the hell the logic on that one works, I have no idea.
I mean, the very defintion of "rich" means that you are in the minority with respect to wealth, so that if you are rich, then most other people must be poorer than you.
Talk about "turtles all the way down" thinking!!
Also, our system of government and our Constituion was set up long ago in order to protect the wealth of slaveowners who exploited slaves and indentured servants. That Constitution, that same evil document, is still very intact today. And it has created an electoral system that has first-past-the-post, winner-take-all architecture. This electoral system does not allow for left or right wing politics, only centrist politics. which plays right into the hands of the wealthy and the corporations. All meaningful reforms are thus stifled by the extremely undemocratic electoral system.
Of course almost all other western nations have far more democratic electoral systems, which is why they have multiple parties, proportional representational systems (or hybrid proportional representational systems).
eat shiat and bark at the moon
With multiple personalities disorder to boot! :-P
Leave it to us Americans to write a story with this type A perspective. Oh my God! Do you realize how much strss cost each year? Let's stress about the cost of stress! Is stress only a problem to the extent that it impacts our pocket book? No. This kind of stuff just convinces me that we are so far from a solution on this as a nation, that we are nearly hopelessly lost. Why don't we stress about that too?
Europe!
Why then have Europeans deliberately created a different model? Are human beings fundamentally different there than here in America?
THat (loathsome) neoliberal thinking that you are trotting out here has been bought into by Americans, but only when they do not know about how Europeans work.
You are the one who is out of touch.
eat shiat and bark at the moon
You should probably take this test to see if AA is for you.
Drinking is a social intereaction with friends. Doing it alone or just so you can get drunk is a bad thing.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
I guess I am lucky to have had a few good role models growing up and early in my career. You should pick the 1 or 2 most important things that need to be done, knock them out, and then move on to the next 1 or 2. Concentrating your effort and attention gives much better results. You get more done in less time and you make fewer mistakes. It is much more effective and a lot less stressful.
One of my first bosses is like that. The "fire fighters" as we called them would be running around frantically all stressed out about every problem. They always looked really busy and really stressed. He, on the other hand, would sit down and make a list of the problems and figure out how best to tackle the situation and then concentrate on one item at a time. He would get that one highest priority item done properly and then move on to the next. Sometimes people would get pissed at him for not working on 10 other things but he would stick with it and get them all done. The fire fighters would always look more busy and frantic but in the end they would accomplish very little and much of that would have to be redone.
Never mistake activity for work. You have to be deliberate and figure out how to get the highest value out of your time. Work less, be more effective, make more money. That's my motto. Everybody gets the same 24 hours in a day. Its how you use them that counts.
The article talks about corporate (but I'll bet it applies to any org) :
;)
1) rapid expansion (Blitzkreig, and expansion into Russia, France, North Afrika),
2) downsizing (later incursion by America/Russia/England)
3) outsourcing (Japan ok maybe this is a stretch
I remember reading about how Hitler's health rapidly declined as the end neared, and I thought is he genetically inferior, b/c that would be ironic. Anyway, perhaps he had a significant decline in health because of the stress of all the above.
The unfortunate fact is they never drill deeper than this loony premise. If the actually read the Art of War, Sun Tsu cautions that war is a dreadully expensive, resource sucking enterprise that should be the last resolrt when all other solutions have failed. When engaged in war you seek quick victory by throwing everything you have at the problem. And you pick your battles carefully so that you will be victortious in every encounter.
The problem is that nobody sits down and outright reads The Art of War. They always read some economist/gladhander/business consultants's take on the Art of War, where they cherry pick choice quotes to make it sound like it's a no holds barred world where you can treat your underlings like conscripts.
(Yes, there are elements of this in the Art of War. Then again there are elements of bigomy, incest, and murder in the Bible.) The crux of the AOW is that you win a war strategically. Ask anyone who has read one of these corporate raider manuals and that would say that business is won by having the best trained troops working at their most efficient with inventorties delivered just in time...
In other words, it's hooey.
"Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival."
--Dr.W.Edwards Deming
Why wouldn't this be an optimum level?
And I'd rather fight to build a world in which you didn't need a job, rather than trying to tear down others. Considering my field of expertise (automation systems), that's not a joke either.
Hardware, software, and blinking lights!
If this option was offered, I would be more than happy to take a 25% cut in pay if I am allowed to take 3 months off each year such as during June, July, August. Too bad companies don't offer that option. It would be a great stress reliever. This would be a giant step to improving worker morale and this would even allow for the hiring of more unemployed people especially if some would prefer to take other seasons off.
The way Corporate America operates is you would be lucky to be allowed to take two weeks off at the same time. By the time you finished a week's vacation, you are getting to the point of recharging and getting out of the de-stressing phase. However, you head straight back to work when you are ready to recharge. As a payback to taking vacation, you have the stress of playing catch up and since the working ranks are so thinned out, when you take vacation, work does not get done while you are gone.
In my experience, I took 2.5 weeks of vacation in July and my manager flat out told me that he was not happy for me to take the time off. (BTW, I changed managers since Summer 2003) I also took a week off in June and I did not catch so much crap for that. That week off in June I was going to take it back in March and was going to be two weeks but there was so much that had to be done plus, getting a few people trained to do some of my work while I was gone under mgt's constraints that people I wanted to train were off limits (roadblocks).
The workplace is at a point is if you have a job, it is expected that you put in 60 hour weeks or be unemployed. There is no happy medium. It is either overwork or no work. The price is besides the medical implications of stress, your family suffers such as you don't get to see your kids grow up, see your wife and spend quality time with her. One of the contributors of our high divorce rate and the problems our kids face due to lack of attention. Columbine shootings are a good example of kids who have little parental involvement since they were chasing the corporate dream.
By simply cutting health care benefits.
Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
Do you, Ralph Spoilsport?
While I do agree with the majority of what you've said I have to take issue with this:
:(
Also, our system of government and our Constituion was set up long ago in order to protect the wealth of slaveowners who exploited slaves and indentured servants
I don't see that as being so. The Constitution was envisioned to be a document to keep government from meddling in the affairs of citizens. The Constitution wasn't protecting slavery then any more than its protecting slavery now. What is slavery but unfair compensation for work and the ability to buy and sell people as property? Sure, we've made it look prettier today, but we have headhunters, and temp agencies aren't really any better, and companies have no qualms about dropping 1500 workers at a shot so they can be recycled to the lowest bidder...
I guess I envision that the authors of the Constitution wanted it to be a document which kept government (especially federal) to a small size that did little more than interact with other governments--none of this micromanaging meddling in the affairs of everyday citizens. I will agree that the usage of the Constitution has been twisted by those in positions of power to do what you say it has.
+++ATHZ 99:5:80
Just some random musings, don't try to find a coherent train of thought...
:-)
Some research suggests that people can't really concentrate well more than 6 hours a day (three hours in the morning, and three hours in the afternoon after a lunch break), if even that. Even so, try getting companies to let their employees off that easy.
Among my friends are some people who work or worked for international companies such as Ericsson, Volvo or Saab-Scania. They said when they came to the US they thought it striking how most companies either didn't allow proper lunch breaks, or had employess who were eager to show how efficient they were. Instead of 40min-1 hour time to go to a resturant, most of the employees remained in their cubicles and ate some sandwiches while continuing their work.
Also, while American workers stayed long, perhaps until 5-6 pm, there was a noticing slacking of pace in the afternoon. People pent more time talking around the water cooler, killing time by surfing or just staring into space. They were just mentally exhausted and couldn't do much efficient work, but they were still required to stay for several hours.
One of my friends held a presentation about Swedish working conditions. When he talked about the generous working laws and vacations, such as 4-6 hours paid vacation per year minimum (even with "vacation bonus" to your salary, since you spend more when you are on vacation), the workers were amazed and the managers started to fidget and make unhappy faces. He wasn't allowed to do that presentation ever again.
I really liked a recent article in the Economist, that suggested that European and American productivity was about equal, Europeans just choose to sacrifice income in favour of more free times, and Americans were willing to sacrifice free time in favour of more money. Perhaps the old joke that Europeans work to live, and Americans live to work has some truth in it. I'm not looking down on people in the US, but I think I prefer our system.
Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
Freelance and work for yourself - you can take all of the time off that you want that way, and no one would bitch at you for it.
A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
I have a lifetime of renewals of Paxil from my doctor. Works for me.... takes the edge off.
Meh.
To answer EVERY thread - think about it. If we lived under European style worker protection laws, many of us wouldn't be unemployed or forced into uncomfortable spots, because we wouldn't have had to use the only tool available to american employees - the threat of resignation.
Think about it: remember that one good job you had? The pay was OK, the boss was OK, but one day something changed - a new policy, a new manager, whatever. With the protections in place, you could raise a stink without fear of persecution.
This company (I mean country) really sucks. Even when it was an "employees' market", the employer still had the upper hand.
Remember folks - our government is FOR, OF, and BY the PEOPLE - and remember, Bush thinks of us a big 10 year old child in need of his guidance.
FUCK THIS SHIT! I am sick of seeing the once great united states turned into a fucking third world police state, replete with petty militaristic dictators, 60 hour work weeks (slavery is freedom people) etc, etc.
I don't want socialism! I want reforms! I want to live to see grandchildren! Don't delude yourselves, our taxes are on par with what many Europeans pay, except our taxes get funnelled into the military-industrial complex - not to protect us and fight against our enemies (oh no, god forbid we actually respond to an attack, we just pay local warlords to make sure bin laden never gets captured), but rather to declare a perpetual war to slow down population growth among the lower classes, push the upper middle class firmly into the proletariat and to keep us all working 8am-7pm, Monday thru Saturday so we can afford our homes that we spend less time in awake than sleeping. We are all on the wheel.
JESUS SAVE US! LIFT THE YOKE FROM BACKS! LET US STAND UPRIGHT! TAKE AWAY THE FALSE LEADERS WHO COMMIT SINS IN YOUR NAME!
In a world w/ so much stress, why is pot illegal in so many places?
All these anti-depressants and anti-anxiety drugs...
I do telemarketing for microsoft, and nothing melts the stress away like a nice fat spliff. I love my SUPER stressful job because I'm always high!
I also listen to a lot of bob marley and slack off like crazy. Be like me if you feel like living past 50.
You have to wonder what the cost of a complete stress-free work environment would be. Is it possible that this would be more expensive in terms of lost productivity? What's the right level of stress?
Ya think? I'm posting this one AC for obvious reason.
I'm a contractor. The project has slippped MASSIVELY from the schedule originally laid out when I hired on. One disaster after another (a daily occurance here it seems) and there's nothing I can do about it. Like I said, I'm a contractor. When my plate is empty or I see other things holding us up I consider it "ok" to leave work. I even put in less than 40 hours a week a couple of weeks in a row.
Somebody came to me and said this was unacceptable. They didn't tell me I wasn't getting things done, just that I neeed to work more hours. Hey, sometimes there isn't anything for me to do. I'm waiting on other departments (legal mostly)... all I was told is to "work more" -- and I'm hourly!
Now, when I work hourly I try and only bill for what I would call "hardcore time" -- the 30 minutes I spend on the phone with another consultant to solve his problem, the hour I spend doing email on the weekend -- stuff like that, I don't really bill for. They're "fringe" benefits that people get with my work attitude, and they only pay me when I'm running around as keyboard commando in their office for the most part. I've had to drop that practice with them... although the extra money is nice, I feel "dirty" for it.
One of the weeks where I only put in 38 hours I actually spent the 2 hours I took off on the phone with people from work! I had to venture out a few towns away during business hours to pick up a gun that is rather difficult to find in the area. I'm on my cellphone almost the entire time during the drive -- but I didn't BILL for that time. Guess I should now.
This is all such a crock. Leisure time did not exist until the Victorian Age. Without leisure every aspect of ones existence is focussed on sustenance the only reason for the absence of stress in that existence is the complete absence of anything against which to compare the intolerable burden of everyday life.
SO in less than than 150 years, the litany of benefits that are derived from all this "stress" are so extensive (and taken for granted); zero infant mortality, life expectancy, health, leisure, that to make a comparison between the life of the factory worker today and 100 years ago (even in america) stress, regardless of it's apparent magnitude is a very small price to pay.
"The first thing to do when you find yourself in a hole is stop digging."
...except at income tax time.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
My world is soooooo much easier with software like KDE that uses ssh, sftp graphically without crashes, worms or other losing stuff. I don't know how people get by without easy and secure access to their data.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
I've met quite a few people in I/T shops in the US and even though the overworked worker does not become too efficient, you're still only paying for one worker and the standard rate since they generally do not get overtime pay.
Also the maintenance of an additional worker would eat through the efficiency of having only one person who works to the bone in fear of losing his job.
Once the person's worn out we can easily kick him out for saying that he is not efficient in his work and not too productive.
Archie - CIO-for-hire
Do what works for you. Don't throw out the baby with the bathwater. Ancient religions have wisdom along with the nonsense; know which is which.
To reduce stress, some ideas:
Pretend the universe is beyond your control, and in any case is evolving and changing in a way that creates a better universe as time progesses - it just isn't always obvious. So relax, its all in good hands, so to speak.
Pretend there are rules you must not break, and taking off one day out of seven to do NO WORK AT ALL IS ONE OF THOSE RULES - call it the sabbath.
Pretend that after you die you will go to a better place, so relax; it'll all work out in the end.
Think we can convince people to pretend these things so they can relax and be happier and healthier? You don't have to believe in God, the sabbath, and heaven - just ACT like you do.
Stress was blamed for everything, from ingrown toenails to ulcers and it has all been proven bogus decades ago.
Oh, well, what the hell...
Drinking is a social intereaction with friends.
So you're saying that only popular people with friends are allowed to drink? And that other people who dare to drink have to go to AA meetings because they're obviously alcoholics? Drinking is not defined as social interaction, it's consuming alcoholic liquids.
Doing it alone or just so you can get drunk is a bad thing.
Says you, luckily your opinion is only a minority of puritans and Americans, everyone else gets by fine downing the pints without some busybody do-gooder interfering.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I'd reply to this properly but I'm too stressed. Leave me alone!
These posts express my own personal views, not those of my employer
You don't HAVE to work 80 hour weeks (that is, unless you NEED to get something done by a deadline and you're catching up).
It's all in your head.
If your place of employment is stressing you out and making you work double than what you're supposed to, then request double your salary.
If they deny you, walk. It's easy, and better in the long run. Let some other brain dead zombie fill your spot.
You might THINK you need that job, but you don't.. and you really won't see that until you're finally outta there. Go elsewhere.
Better yet, find a job you actually like. I laugh whenever I hear people hating their job. No wonder you're stressed out, you're stuck 40 hours a week at a place you utterly despise because you think you have to.
It's all in your head.
We have secretly replaced these Slashdot mods' sense of humor with a rusty nail. Let's see if they notice!!
go suck a nigger's donkey ape cock.
How can a country look at all the damaging effects of rampant stress and just think of money?
The welfare of the people is more important than the wealth of the people. I think sometimes we in the US forget that.
Much as you might like to believe otherwise, this is not a case of everyone ragging on the US just because it's the US. This is a case of everyone ragging on overwork because overwork is bad, regardless of who's doing it.
Sometimes when people say you're doing something bad, they're right. The sooner you realize that, the sooner you can stop shooting yourself in the foot.
Puritan? I am no such thing.
It's your liver, abuse it in any way you wish..
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
The "less rosy" picture gets positively gloomy.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
One can smell the cluelesness of youthfull thinking in your post.
To work more to be exploited? A company is not doing you a favour when they employ you sonny, it is a contract of mutual covenience and it will only take a couple of "downsizings" to drill in your skull that you should look for your best interests and not to unsettle established giants with kick-ass products.
Companies that manage to upset giants do it mostly for being in the right place at the right time (i.e. they got lucky), not necessarily for any forward thinking or sweat-shop mentalitly.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Europeans will fund defense, not imperial adventures.
Real defense is immensily cheaper than arbitrary "nation building".
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Check this please Productivity measures in the OECD countries.
You may produce the most, consume the most, but you are certainly not the most productive country.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
I went for half an hour walk, and watched my 9 year old TV.
Needless to say I can save quite a bit each month.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Yes, but Sweden is a *socialist* state, which makes them *evil*, according to both of the two conservative parties who run the US (sigh).
I've worked in both Germany and the United States, and believe me, the workplace in Germany is a lot less stressful. They work fewer hours per day and get a lot more vacation days per year.
I found that Germans do indeed have work ethic to an extent. They are a lot more productive during the hours they are at work, but despite popular belief, they are actually rather lazy. They don't like to work, but when they do work, they do it very efficiently.
I think the amount of work Americans do tends to wear them out a bit and makes them less productive per hour worked. That very well may lead to even more hours worked: not a good thing.
I got a lot more free time working in Germany than working in the U.S.
Bzzzt. Wrong, just because people don't agree with you doesn't mean they must be juveniles, you pedantic ass. A huge portion of us are likely much older and more experienced than you.
How about less condescension and flaming on your part and a little more consideration of alternative points of view?