Even if we don't feel it, it seems impossible to avoid reading about it on a daily basis. At one end of the spectrum, we hear of overloaded workers who successfully sue their employers. At the other end of the spectrum, celebrities earning more in a week than most of us earn in a year are admitted to clinics suffering from stress. The media explore the issue from every possible angle, prescribing remedies ranging from feng shui to keeping pets, via cognitive behavioural therapy and changing diet.
Stress certainly seems to be an inescapable element of modern life.
And it is running at high levels amongst UK managers, according to a recently published Institute of Management research report. Taking the Strain also makes a number of recommendations about how to deal with work-related stress. And in this article we relate the findings to flexible working - and suggest some remedies of our own. The costs of stress Stress in the workplace is a serious and costly business. The long hours culture has an impact on this balance.