Stressed at Work - Mentally Ill by 32

dimon, I like this story. It's good stuff.

In the 1980's, I managed an office that provided 24/7 support to the military. We often worked long, rotating shifts. At that time, there was early research in Europe about the best way to manage shift changes and the linkage between stress and health problems. After researching, I structured our hours, as best as possible, to conform to the recommendations about how to manage shift changes and also decrease stress in urgent deadline situations. When I was hired to take over that office, efficiency was down, morale was down, and illness/sick time was up. I was amazed when, after making those changes, efficiency and morale skyrocketed, and illness/sick time went down.

 I hope that employers will consider that the people working for them are humans, with lives outside the office, and that a worker who's literally damaged by stress and overly-long hours in negative or anxious situations are workers who will cost them money later with their loss as they leave for better jobs or have to leave for health reasons.

Taking good care of your employees is good business!