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restructuring. Alicja Muszynski,
a sociology professor at the
University of Waterloo, notes
that “as corporations, including
universities, have been asked to
tighten their belts, there are
fewer jobs and people that are
left have to take on more
responsibility.”^19 Meanwhile,
she adds, “people are afraid to
take on less in the workplace, or
to complain, because they’re
afraid they’re going to get
downsized.”
- Technological change.Employees
are often expected to learn new
technologies without being
given adequate training. Or they
are not consulted when new
technology is introduced. In
addition, employees at all levels
are flooded with information
because of technological
changes. As well, employees are
frequently asked to be “on” for
their jobs more hours each day:
Pagers, voice mail, faxes, email,
the Internet, and intranets make
it possible to stay in touch with
the workplace 24 hours a day.
Research by Professor Christina
Cavanagh of the Richard Ivey
School of Business at the
University of Western Ontario
shows that email is an increas-
ing cause of stress. Individuals
receive an average of 80 or 90
emails daily, and devote an hour
more each day to handling it
than they did two years ago. The
frustration is not just with quan-
tity or time. When Cavanagh
asked 10 middle managers to
keep track of their emails, she
discovered that nearly half of
the messages were “junk or
notes with little relevance.”^20
- Increasingly diverse workforce.“If
diversity is not managed effec-
tively it may lead to interper-
sonal stress, competition among
different groups for attention
and resources, and decreased
interaction because of the per-
ceived need for political correct-
ness in speech, interaction, and
recognition.” In diverse groups,
individuals experience differ-
ences in beliefs and values, dif-
ferences in role expectations,
and differences in perceptions
about fairness in procedures.
- Downsizing.With downsizing
seemingly a routine procedure
in many companies, even the
threat of layoffs can be stressful.
Moreover, after downsizing,
firms often increase the work-
load of remaining employees,
which leads to more stress.
- Employee empowerment and team-
work. Both empowerment and
teamwork require greater deci-
sion-making responsibility and
interaction skills from employ-
ees. Although this alone is
stressful, it is particularly stress-
ful for individuals who “have
little or no interest in empower-
ment or teamwork structures
and processes. Many people do
not function well in a group set-
ting, and they and their work
may suffer if forced into a team
environment.”
- Work/home conflict.Trying to bal-
ance work life and family life is
difficult at the best of times, but
more employees are finding that
their jobs are demanding longer
hours, either formally or infor-
mally. This makes it difficult to
manage the nonwork parts of
life. Families with children
where both parents work, or
where parents are raising chil-
dren alone, often have the
added stress of managing child-
care arrangements.
About one in eight workers was
responsible for providing some form
of care for aging parents in 1997, and
one survey found that one in three
was doing so in 2002.^21 Being a care-
giver is an additional stress both at
home and at work. Studies indicate
that those who have difficulties find-
ing effective child care or eldercare
have lower work performance and
increased absenteeism, decreased sat-
isfaction, and lower physical and psy-
chological well-being.^22 A fact that
tends to be overlooked when stres-
sors are reviewed individually is that
stress is an additive phenomenon.^23
Stress builds up. Each new and per-
sistent stressor adds to an individ-
ual’s stress level. A single stressor may
seem relatively unimportant in and
of itself, but if it is added to an
already high level of stress, it can be
“the straw that breaks the camel’s
back.” You may recall that the final
straw for Linda Lundström was not
being able to find a parking space.
Consequences of Stress
Stress manifests itself in a number of
ways. For instance, an individual who
is experiencing a high level of stress
may develop high blood pressure,
ulcers, irritability, difficulty in making
routine decisions, loss of appetite,
accident proneness, and the like.
These symptoms can be placed under
three general categories: physiologi-
cal, psychological, and behavioural
symptoms.^24
- Physiological symptoms.Most of the
research on stress suggests that it
can create changes in metabo-
lism, increase heart and breathing
rates, increase blood pressure,
cause headaches, and induce
heart attacks. An interesting
aspect of illness in today’s work-
place is the considerable change
in how stress shows up. In the
past, older workers were the ones
