According to research, which of the following occupations is the most stressful?

Teaching is consistently among the top three most stressful professions, according to a respected academic who has studied well-being in 80 occupations.

Sir Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Manchester’s business school and a former government adviser on well-being, told TES that the profession regularly ranked among the most stressful jobs.

“Of all the occupations I’ve studied, and that’s about 80, teachers are in the top three most stressed occupations,” he said. “The hours are long and antisocial, the workload is heavy and there is change for change’s sake from various governments.”   

His comments came as the country’s biggest provider of new teachers, Teach First, revealed that it had started offering trainees psychological support because of concerns that classroom pressures could trigger mental health problems. 

Other high-stress professions identifed by Sir Cary included healthcare and the uniformed services such as the police, ambulance and the fire services. He added that some parts of the IT industry were also high-stress. Librarians, gardeners and lab biologists tended to be among the least stressed professionals.

Sir Cary has published well over 100 pieces of research on workplace well-being and stress, during a 30-year career in academia. He is the outgoing chair of the Academy of Social Sciences and president of the counselling charity Relate.  

He said anxiety, stress and depression were leading causes of sickness absence across many occupations, and in teaching these problems were “endemic”.

Sir Cary said constant changes in education policy added to teachers’ stress levels, and he urged the government to take a “hands-free” approach to education.

The government should treat schools in the same way that former chancellor Gordon Brown treated the Bank of England in 1997, by granting it independence from political control, he said. 

To read the full story on Teach First’s concerns about the risk of mental health problems among its trainees see the 26 June issue of TES. You can read it on your tablet or phone, or by downloading the TES Reader app for Android or iOS. Or pick it up at all good newsagents.

According to new research from WorkWear Giant, these are the most stressful jobs. The clothing supplier analysed how many people were likely to report workplace stress per 100,000 people in that professional occupation, before looking at the earnings and unpaid overtime in those sectors.

They then created a stress score out of 15 for each occupation - the lower the wage, the higher the score out of five. The more overtime, the higherthe score out of five. The more cases of work related stress, the higher the score out of five. These three scores are then added together to give a total out of 15, to work out the most stressful jobs.

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The most stressful jobs are:

1.Customer Service

• Earnings – £20,735 annually = 2/5
• Stress – 2,770 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 3/5
• Unpaid overtime – 0 hours a week = 5/5
• Total Score = 10/15

2.Legal Professionals

• Earnings – £69,992 annually = 5/5
• Stress – 3,040 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 2/5
• Unpaid overtime – 9.6 hours a week = 2/5
• Total Score = 8/15

3. Housing Association Professionals

• Earnings – £24,012 annually = 3/5
• Stress – 3,050 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 2/5
• Unpaid overtime – 8.6 hours a week = 2/5
• Total Score = 7/15

4. Welfare professionals

• Earnings – £34,200 annually = 4/5
• Stress – 4,080 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 1/5
• Unpaid overtime – 8.6 hours a week = 2/5
• Total Score = 7/15

5. Teaching & Education Professionals

• Earnings – £25,692 p/a = 3/5
• Stress – 3,020 reported cases of stress per 100,000 people = 2/5
• Unpaid overtime – 12.5 hours a week = 1/5
• Total Score = 6/15

For context, the research says the national average salary is £24,000, the average number of house of unpaid overtime is 7.5 a week, and the average number of cases of workplace stress is 1,320 pr 100,000.

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As for the least stressful occupations?

1.Skilled Tradesmen

• Earnings – £27,279 annually = 3/5
• Stress – 600 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 5/5
• Unpaid overtime – 0 hours a week = 5/5
• Total Score = 13/1

2. Process, Plant & Machine Operatives

• Earnings – £25,480 annually = 3/5
• Stress – 630 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 5/5
• Unpaid overtime – 0 hours a week = 5/5
• Total Score = 13/15

3. Cleaners & Labourers (Elementary)

• Earnings – £20,030 anually = 2/5
• Stress – 780 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 5/5
• Unpaid overtime – 0 hours a week = 5/5
• Total Score = 12/15

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4. Admin & Secretarial Occupations

• Earnings – £23,207 annually =2/5
• Stress – 1,310 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 4/5
• Unpaid overtime – 0 hours a week = 5/5
• Total Score = 11/15

5. Managers, Directors & Senior Officials

• Earnings – £43,425 anually = 5/5
• Stress – 1,200 cases of stress per 100,000 people = 4/5
• Unpaid overtime – 9.2 hours a week = 1/5
• Total Score = 10/15

The perfect recipe for a stress-free job seems to be a high salary, and no overtime. Easy, right?

Dusty Baxter-Wright Cosmopolitan’s Acting Entertainment Editor Dusty Baxter-Wright (she/her) is Entertainment Editor at Cosmopolitan UK across print, digital and video.

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