A high-stress job with no freedom might kill you

“My job is killing me.” It’s a phrase many of us have uttered at some point in our career, but a new study shows a high-stress job with no freedom might just lead you to an early grave.

Researchers at Indiana University Kelley School of Business studied 2300 people from a range of vocations over a seven-year period. They found that those in stressful jobs who had little freedom to make their own decisions at work were more likely to die young when compared to people in low-stress roles with more autonomy.

The study revealed some shocking statistics:

• 26% of deaths occurred in people with front of house service jobs
• 32% happened in manufacturing workers
• Those with little control at work were 15.4% more likely to die young
• While those who had autonomy had a 34% decrease in the risk of death.

In addition to this, the research showed people in high-stress jobs with no freedom tend to have a higher body mass index as a result of stress eating, smoking and other coping behaviours.

Lead author Erik Gonzalex-Mulé says the results suggest the key to employee happiness is giving workers they ability to make their own decisions and act with more autonomy. He says employers should allow staff to set their own goals and shape their role into one they can be happy with.

However, the study showed that stress isn’t always bad. If a participant reported a high level of pressure but had more control over their work they usually said the stress helped them prioritise their workload to achieve more in a typical day.

Read the original article at dailym.ai/2dkhLcO