Worried sick: job security and the effect on your health

According the authors of an American report, Jagdish Khubchandani and James H. Price, job insecurity is responsible for a range of health issues:

People who felt insecure about their jobs had a likelihood of serious mental illness almost five times higher than those who were not job insecure. In addition, job insecure individuals were significantly more likely to report pain conditions (i.e. headaches, neck pain, and low back pain), and lifetime histories of having ulcers, diabetes, hypertension, angina pectoris, and coronary heart diseases.

Khubchandani and Price studied 17,441 people, and the number that qualified as “worried-sick” was a shocking 33 per cent. Turbulent economies and a fast-changing world post 2000 have eroded the sense of security largely enjoyed in the second part of the 20th century. Now, we live in era where job insecurity is part of working life and wreaking havoc with people’s perception of what the future could hold. The brain and body react to the tension creating headaches, muscle knots and so on.

When insecurity is embedded into the employment culture, people are unable to escape the feeling that disaster waits. In fact, losing a job outright is less stressful because the uncertainty factor is removed. Uncertainty is damaging. To cope with it, humans are likely to drink more, eat less healthy foods or smoke thus increasing lifestyle induced diseases like diabetes and cancers.

Employers may not appreciate how strong their influence over someone’s health is, and how simple it is to promote good health. The more employers understand and empathise with how their employees are feeling, the more empowered they are to take actions proven to mitigate health risk factors. And why should health matter to employers? By helping their workforce achieve good health, employers receive bottom line benefits by reducing rates of absenteeism and producing a workplace culture that is engaged and productive.

In a 2015 report, Francis Green suggests positive interaction between management and employees is central to reducing feelings of worry that accompany job insecurity. “The ill-health effects of negative shocks and job insecurity can be counterbalanced within organisations by forms of participation that allow both full communication with affected workers and some influence over decision-making.”

The connections in the brain that process pain, mental or physical, are strongly interlinked. Healing symptoms from headaches and back pain to mental health can begin by alleviating the cause. In this case, a positive conversation between a manager and employee.

When job insecurity is high in the workplace, businesses can choose how it’s managed. One way would be to secretly walk people out the door as they are dismissed so remaining staff fear they will be next. Alternatively, they can create forums where employees concerns about their future can be addressed personally. By adopting the latter process, unfair dismissal claims be avoided, and stress is removed from the situation.

Managers need to take the lead and demonstrate they respect their workers health and wellbeing like this employer did. This example of a manager publicly endorsing an employee taking sick leave for mental health sets the tone for acceptable behaviour. In a positive workplace culture colleagues can give emotional support to job insecure, and potentially unwell, individuals. Strong interpersonal relationships in the workplace are rated just as important as those with family and friends when it comes to dealing with job insecurity stress.

While job insecurity is a contributing factor to poor health in the general population, evidence shows employers can play a major role reversing the ill-health of their workers – even when reinstating job security is not an available option. Engaging with people through conversation (even formal, procedural conversation) acts like a tonic defusing mental strain and unknotting taut muscles. Conversation with employees is a simple tool with real health benefits because it demonstrates respect.

If your business needs guidance to positively manage employee health and wellbeing, Australian businesses can download advice from Comcare: Benefits to business: the evidence for investing in worker health and wellbeing.