Dive Brief:
- As workers' incomes increase, so does their stress, a new LinkedIn survey found. Among people making $35,000 to $50,000 a year, 47% said they felt stressed at work. But among those making $200,000 or more annually, 68% revealed that they were stressed at work.
- High salaries often come with stress, but not necessarily happiness, survey results show. The most satisfied respondents (81%) earned $50,000 to $75,000 a year. Job satisfaction dips slightly after that and then plateaus, with fewer workers (74%) making over $250,000 saying they're satisfied with their jobs. The most stressed out workers were Gen Xers (57%), while just 44% of millennials felt stressed.
- LinkedIn says employees must find ways to manage their stress, be it through individual, stress-oriented programs or broader wellness programs.
Dive Insight:
The survey sheds more light on what employers have already discovered: that workers will often trade in a higher salary for perks they find more valuable, such as development opportunities, personal benefits, flexible work schedules and generally more balance.
To boost job satisfaction, employers can create cultures of wellbeing, transparency, trust, inclusiveness and fairness that enhance employees' experiences and make them feel valued, regardless of how long they stay. To help employees manage anxiety and stress in the workplace, many organizations offer stress management and mental health services as part of their wellness programs. Unmanaged stress can have castrophic effects on health, leading to a range of chronic illnesses, forcing some people to switch careers and driving up healthcare costs.
Notably, Gen X tops the list as most stressed generation. Members of this "sandwich" generation often are caught between raising kids (and sending them to college) and caring for aging parents. Employees, now more than ever, seem to be seeking out caregiving benefits; it may be a valuable frontier for employers to explore when building a holistically well workplace.