Occupational stress: evidence from industries affected by COVID-19 in Japan.
BMC Public Health
; 22(1): 1005, 2022 05 18.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1933110
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
This study provides objective evidence on the impact of COVID-19 based on employee occupational stress reported from 13 different industries, and examines the determinants of employee psychological well-being. As the economic and social impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue, governments should consider industry-level differences when making support decisions concerning public resource allocation to corporations. However, little evidence exists regarding the differences in occupational stress across industries.METHODS:
Employee occupational stress data (N = 673,071) was derived from workers in Japan from 2018 to 2020. The sample comprises workers from 13 industries, including civil services, service industry (other), real estate, medical/welfare, wholesale/retail, academic research, and accommodation/restaurant business. A logit model is employed to investigate the differences in employees' psychological well-being before and during the pandemic.RESULTS:
In 2020, 11 out of 12 industries had significantly worse occupational stress compared to employees engaged in civil services. Over 23% of employees from the wholesale/retail and accommodation/restaurant industries were observed as high-stress employees. Improved compensation policies supporting these industries are suggested. In contrast, reduced occupational stress was found among employees in the transportation/postal and information/communication industries. Among the 13 industries, aside from high job demands, tough inter-person relationships in the workplace became the most significant stressors during the pandemic.CONCLUSIONS:
The results confirm that the pandemic has had a heterogeneous effect on employee occupational stress across industries, thus suggesting that the level of compensation given to different industries during the COVID-19 pandemic should be discussed and approved by the Japanese government. Additionally, support for the wholesale/retail and accommodation/restaurant industries during the pandemic should be improved.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Occupational Stress
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
English
Journal:
BMC Public Health
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
S12889-022-13257-y
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