Downsizing comes with big health risks

Employees just can’t win.  First comes the anxiety of losing your job, then the stress of added workload after keeping your job, and then the stress of feeling so stressed-out, which causes stressful health problems.

Stressed yet?  You might be after reading a new study by Finnish researchers suggesting that workers who manage to keep their jobs after major downsizing have an increased risk of dying from heart disease.

The study tracked more than 22,400 municipal employees who retained their jobs during a recession between 1991 and 1993.  Rates of sickness absence and death were monitored during a seven-year period.

University of Helsinki researchers found that the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease doubled for employees who survived job cuts.  Furthermore, departments that lost more than 18 percent of their staff also saw an increase in workers taking sick leave.

The report, published in the British Medical Journal, linked the poor health of remaining staff to stress because of extra workload and job insecurity.

Employers considering corporate downsizing are being urged to recognize the health woes that workers can suffer.

Companies are encouraged to work with unions to help find work for displaced employees, and to provide support for those left behind.

Safety Smarts Weekly briefing Tuesday, March 2, 2004

(http://www.safetysmart.com/ezine/030204/story2.html)

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