Survey Says Work Can Make You Sick

Wow people must really have sordid preconceptions about work and what it's like to work if research shows that work is deemed hazardous to health.

Global recruitment firm Kelly Services conducted an international survey where nearly a fifth of employees say their work makes them ill or unhealthy. The sample consist of 115,000 respondents in 33 countries in Europe, Asia and the Pacific and North America this year.

Results showed that on average,

• 19 percent of respondents globally said their job was adversely affecting their health
• an additional 13 percent saying their work was so stressful it was making it hard for them to sleep at night
• In Japan 60 percent of respondents said they had suffered from work-related health problems
• Canada had the second-highest percentage of employees who said their health was affected, while employees in New Zealand, India and Australia were among those least affected
• A third of employees said they had taken three or more days of sick leave in the past year, but 35 percent said they had been made to feel guilty about the time off
• By contrast, 15 percent admitted to taking sick leave when they were not genuinely sick
• While the majority of workers polled said their health was their employer's responsibility, not everyone is asking for access to a gym, flexible hours or nutrition classes.

"In economies everywhere, people are spending more time at work, sometimes at the expense of personal health and wellbeing," said the Kelly Global Workforce Survey.

"A significant number of people also believe that the state of their health is at risk because of workplace conditions. Not only do employees see their health being affected, but they expect employers to actively address the issue," it said.

You know what I notice about most people in the office is that they take work way to personally. Work is a job. I love my work (sometimes). We take pride in what we do and that's good - I think that's what's called work integrity. It allows us give the best of what we have to our job.

But I don't think it's right to stay in the office for twelve hours a day and working your ass off, taking every bit of failure personally. Allowing work-related stress to permeate the rest of your life will drive you insane. That will indeed make anybody sick, not to mention burnt out.


This is why work has been restricted to only eight hours a day, because the powers that be know that there has to be life beyond work. I've learned there's such a thing as separating yourself from your job. Letting it be JUST a job. That doesn't mean we don't work hard, it just means shit happens and we take it but then we let it pass. So my advice to people who are working sick... get a life! Please!