Accounting and finance workers suffering severe stress

Accounting and finance professionals in Australia and New Zealand are suffering from greater levels of stress than other professionals.

The independent study by Hudson called Talent Tightrope: Managing the Workplace through the Downturn found that almost 74% of accounting and finance professionals say their stress has risen as a result of the GFC, 20% higher than the average.

In addition, 56% of accounting and finance professionals said they valued their jobs more than before the downturn, although half of all employees are seeking a new role.

The study found a slight discrepancy in perceived loyalty; 43% of employers think employees have become more loyal, while only 20% of employees report greater loyalty.

In fact, employers consistently viewed employee sentiment as being twice that as the figures showed in terms of job security, perceived stress levels, morale, or motivation.

"In every aspect of current workplace sentiment, whether job satisfaction, motivation, morale, perceived stress levels or job security employers are clearly unaware of their employees' frame of mind," said Mark Steyn, CEO Hudson A/NZ. "For example, nearly half (44%) of the 2,394 employees surveyed indicated that worker morale has plummeted. In contrast, only 26% of the 247 employers interviewed acknowledge that workplace morale has dropped.