Organizations have been experiencing a prolonged period of uncertainty and economic instability, which has taken a serious toll on employees. Is it any surprise that workers’ stress levels are on the rise?

The American Psychological Association’s 2012 Stress in America: Our Health at Risk report paints a troubling picture of stress nationwide, with many Americans consistently reporting high levels of stress. In a survey of more than 1,200 U.S. residents last fall, 39 percent of respondents said their stress has increased over the past year and 44 percent say their stress has increased over the past five years. Approximately 22 percent of respondents reported “extreme stress.”

Workplace stress is at a four-year high, according to a report by the Kenexa High Performance Institute this year, based on a four-year study of 60,000 workers in six countries. In the United Kingdom alone, the employee stress level has risen by 10 percentage points since 2008, making it the most stressed of all the countries surveyed, including the United States, Germany, China, Brazil and India.

“There has been a marked increase in workplace stress in every country, industry and job type, to the extent that it is now higher than at any time in the last four years,” Dr. Rena Rasch, research manager at the Kenexa High Performance Institute, said in a statement. “With the economic downturn, a major cause of stress for many people is the sense that they have no control over the fate of their jobs. In organisations where staff had been made redundant, the average employee stress level was nearly 40 percent, compared to just 25 percent for organisations which hadn’t made layoffs in the same period.”

Indeed, today’s still-turbulent economy and heightened job or pay insecurity have many people in the workplace worried about their jobs, finances and future, so much so that two-out-of-three people say their on-the-job stress level is high, according to recent findings from ManpowerGroup’s Right Management.

In a survey of more than 450 North American employees, approximately 64 percent described the stress level in their work environment as high, while a quarter described it as medium. Just 11 percent of workers said the stress level in their workplace is low.

“When asked, employees will usually say their job or workplace is stressful,” Michael Haid, senior VP of talent management for Right Management, said in a statement. “After all, we’re talking about work, not play, so we shouldn’t be surprised if there’s high energy or intensity on the job.”

In fact, stress at work is normal, even healthy, so long as it’s the right level of productive tension that drives workers to perform and excel. Yet when stress becomes too great, or when it goes unmanaged for too long, it can be harmful to both productivity and health, negatively affecting both the individual and the business.

Nevertheless, the percentages suggest that workplace stress is at an unusually high level, and the business consequences can be significant.

“It would be foolhardy for management to dismiss employees’ complaints because a perception of stress impairs engagement, and that is a core issue that impacts productivity and the bottom line,” according to Haid.

Right Management’s findings suggest a combination of factors accounts for such a high level of workplace anxiety: “We’re into the fourth year of a volatile employment market – employee cutbacks, lean staffing, a weak job market and relentless pressure for companies to perform.”

Greater pressure also increases the likelihood of anger in the workplace – or, desk rage.

Recent survey findings from health insurer PruHealth and wellness program provider Vitality revealed that concerns about the economy and job/pay insecurity are leading at least one British worker in four to display symptoms of depression, stress and anxiety, including feeling worried or anxious (47 percent), fatigued or lethargic (32 percent) and irritable and angry (46 percent).

According to the PruHealth-Vitality findings, 7.3 percent of British workers have witnessed a physical assault in the workplace and nearly 3 percent admitted to having been physically aggressive to a colleague themselves. More than one in three believes that incidents of desk rage have worsened since the start of the recession.

The good news is that some employers are becoming alert to the growing challenge of too much workforce stress and are taking action, albeit with limited success, according to the Towers Watson/National Business Group on Health’s 2011/2012 Staying@Work Survey report. The bad news is that, although action is more prevalent, success is not. Just over half (51 percent) of U.S. respondents, for example, said their efforts to address worker stress caused by inadequate staffing have had little or no positive impact.

It’s little surprise, then, that nearly half (49 percent) of respondents to the PruHealth-Vitality survey are not convinced their stress levels will improve in the future.

To help employees manage their stress levels, Right Management’s Haid provides four tips to managers:

• Hold regular work review meetings to clarify priorities and deadlines.
• Be open and authentic when sharing company performance information.
• Clarify for each individual employee their role in making the organization successful.
• Foster flexible working practices to help employees to juggle work and life pressures.