Job insecurity drives bosses to work 9 weeks a year unpaid

London, July 18 (ANI): The average manager is accumulating nine weeks of unpaid overtime a year, or 90 minutes per day, because they fear for their jobs, a new survey has revealed.

The extra time away from home is also having a profound impact on their family life - as many bosses don't see their children awake from one week's end to the next.

A survey conducted by the Chartered Management Institute of 1,334 junior managers and directors showed that one in three would resign - if they found another job to go to.

More than a third agreed with the statement: "I have too much work to do and feel overloaded."

And although the extra hours are held responsible for a rise in health problems, some 43 percent said that there was a 'culture' of managers not taking sick leave, probably because they fear for their jobs.

Nearly one in five had suffered depression in the past year and 42 percent suffered stress. Six in ten said that they were 'constantly tired' but had experienced insomnia in the past three months.

On being asked about the impact on their lives, two-thirds of managers who have children stated that 'working long hours had a negative effect on their relationship with their children.'

When they were asked: 'If I could find another job, I would leave', a third of managers agreed, or strongly agreed, with the statement.

The study also revealed the worrying impact of their working life on their physical and mental health, over last three months.

The results were startling - 61 percent had experienced 'constant tiredness', 60 percent had experienced insomnia or sleep loss, 47 percent had experienced 'lack of appetite or over-eating' and 45 percent had 'difficulty concentrating'.

Since 2007 - the year that the credit crunch began - the Institute said that presenteeism had 'increased markedly', such as coming into work even when ill.

Presenteeism involves staying at work for no reason, but feeling under pressure to remain at your desk in order to impress the boss and to highlight your loyalty and commitment to your job.

In 2007, 32 percent of managers agreed: 'There is a culture of people not taking sickness absence even when they are ill in my organisation.' Today the figure has seen a jump to 43 percent.

The number of managers suffering from health problems, such as stress, digestive problems, depression, migraines and respiratory complaints, has also gone up over the last five years.

Nearly one in five managers said that they have suffered from depression over the last 12 months, and 42 percent complained of stress.

Professor Cary Cooper, from the Lancaster University Management School, one of the co-authors of the report, said that stress becomes visible through changes in behaviour.

Typically, these symptoms include finding it difficult to concentrate, losing your sense of humour and losing your temper more quickly than normal.

But it later on takes more physical forms, such as tending to over-eat or under-eat as well as smoking or drinking more than normal.

Short periods of stress are manageable, but it can lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease or stomach and bowel problems, if it persists.

"The scale and impact of change over the last five years has been staggering as all of our key measures from the survey have deteriorated markedly since 2007," the Daily Mail quoted Professor Les Worrall, from the faculty of business at Coventry University, as saying.

"What is more worrying is that there seems to be no sign of economic conditions getting better - we are in for a worrying time if these trends persist into the future," Worrall added. (ANI)