Workplace stress levels on the rise worldwide, poll finds

Half of working professionals worldwide are more stressed than they were 18 months ago, according to a survey by business consultancy Regus.

The survey, which polled 16,000 professionals across the world, identified professional reasons, not personal ones, as the main determinants, with 59 per cent blaming their job, 44 per cent blaming personal finances and 37 per cent on dealing with customers.

Mainland China saw the biggest number of stressed workers with 75 per cent of the 355 respondents polled reporting a rise in stress levels from 18 months ago – 25 per cent higher than the global average.

Chinese workers cited problems with job development, time management and organisational direction as their biggest drivers of stress.

The findings come at a time of monumental change in China as it struggles to deal with a slowdown in the global and domestic economies, while trying to tackle an array of social and political problems, all ahead of a major leadership transition.

Credit-deprived small- and medium-sized companies along the export-dependent coast are also struggling to keep their heads above water. Four out of five respondents in Shanghai reported a rise in stress levels.

In Hong Kong, 55 per cent of respondents experienced increased stress levels in the past 18 months.