Workplace wellbeing
Stress in the Workplace
Stress doesn't necessarily appear overnight. Many people keep showing up for their work, delivering and taking responsibility long after the strain has started to affect their wellbeing.
Short-term stress can be a natural response to demands and challenges. Prolonged stress is something different. The Danish Working Environment Authority describes how longer-lasting stress can have serious consequences for health, quality of life and performance, and how strain can come both from work and from life outside work.
Source: Danish Working Environment Authority — Prevent stress
Stress among Danish employees
15.6 %
of Danish employees say they have often or constantly felt stressed within the past two weeks.
61.9 million
working hours are estimated to be lost every year in Danish workplaces in connection with sickness absence that can be linked to stress.
According to NFA, this corresponds to the working time of 37,335 full-time employees.
Source: National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA), 2023
DKK 16.4 billion
is NFA's estimated annual value of the lost working time and production connected with stress in Danish workplaces.
The amount is an estimate of the value of lost working time and production. It should therefore not be read as a direct bill of DKK 16.4 billion to Danish companies.
Source: National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA), 2023
Where does the stress come from?
Working life plays a significant role
9 out of 10
Among those who have often or constantly felt stressed, 9 out of 10 name work, or a combination of work and private life, as the most important source of their stress. Slightly more than half name work alone as the most important source.
That doesn't mean the workplace is the sole cause of stress. But the figures show that working life plays a significant role for many of the people who experience stress.
Source: National Research Centre for the Working Environment (NFA)
Stress also has an economic side
NFA has studied lost working time among Danish employees with a high level of work-related stress. The estimated annual economic burden is at least DKK 16.4 billion.
What do the DKK 16.4 billion consist of?
- Sickness absenceDKK 10.4 billion
- Lost production from employees who leave the companyDKK 4.8 billion
- Other lost production, e.g. leaveDKK 1.2 billion
Stress in the Danish population
More Danes score high on the stress scale
Data from the Danish Health Authority shows that the share of adults in Denmark with a high score on the stress scale has increased over time. The figures cover the adult population — not only employees.
Share of people with a high score on the stress scale
Adults in Denmark (the entire population, not only employees)
Prevention is also an organisational matter
When stress arises in relation to work, prevention isn't only about the individual employee's ability to handle pressure. Workload, influence, relationships, management, working hours and opportunities for recovery can also matter.
NFA points to the value of a systematic approach, in which the workplace identifies sources of strain, involves employees, carries out relevant interventions and follows up on whether they work.
Individual sessions can therefore be one part of a preventive effort — but they cannot replace work on the working environment itself, the way work is organised, or management.
Source: NFA / Danish Working Environment Authority
A global perspective
A global problem for working life
The figures below are international and measure other things than the Danish stress figures above. They therefore cannot be compared directly.
12 billion working days
WHO estimates that depression and anxiety alone account for around 12 billion lost working days globally every year.
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) — Mental health at work
USD 1 trillion
WHO estimates the global cost of lost productivity due to depression and anxiety at around USD 1 trillion a year.
Source: World Health Organization (WHO) — Mental health at work
27 %
of respondents in EU-OSHA's 2022 OSH Pulse survey said they experienced stress, anxiety or depression caused or made worse by work.
A European, self-reported survey result — not a Danish figure.
Source: EU-OSHA — OSH Pulse, 2022
The WHO figures concern depression and anxiety — not stress alone.
From knowledge to early support
Stress prevention isn't only about reacting when an employee is already on sick leave. It's also about making it possible to notice strain and respond earlier.
A regular wellbeing day at the workplace can give employees and leaders easy access to individual sessions close to their everyday work. The sessions can be a supplement to the company's wider work on wellbeing and the psychosocial working environment.
The individual sessions are not a substitute for psychological or medical treatment, and they cannot stand alone if the challenge lies in the organisation's working environment or structure.
Sources and documentation
The figures on this page come from Danish and international public research and working environment authorities. Click a source to read the original documentation.
- National Research Centre for the Working Environment – NFAStress at work (Danish)
- National Research Centre for the Working Environment – NFAAbsence related to stress costs Danish workplaces at least DKK 16.4 billion a year (Danish)
- National Research Centre for the Working Environment – NFAThe economic costs of a poor working environment (Danish)
- Danish Working Environment AuthorityPrevent stress (Danish)
- Danish Health AuthorityStress in Denmark – with a special focus on young people and people outside the labour market (Danish)
- EU-OSHAPsychosocial risks and mental health at work
- World Health OrganizationMental health at work