Challenges of modern work environments and means of overcoming them in the context of psychosocial risk assessments

Modern work environments constitute an underrepresented part of psychosocial risk assessments at work. Little is known about whether there is an increased stress load at all and what possible improvements could be made in such a case.

Modern work environments were assessed in an online questionnaire in 33 companies across a period of more than 4 years. A total of 3431 employees participated in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data was applied to obtain a differentiated picture.

Increased stress caused by modern work environments was an issue for around a third of the sample. 31.6% of the participants at least sometimes struggled to balance work and private life. Quite a few of the participants (36.3%) worked sometimes or more outside regular working hours. For 32.4% of participants, the workload has increased due to new technologies, but for 30.4% it has not. The majority (81.4%) feel they can work productively in home offices. The data from 178 completed free text fields on improving modern work environments from the employees’ perspective was analysed. Many named suggestions relate to improvements in time management.

This study provides both detailed insights into various aspects of modern work environments and offers solutions to counteract possible negative consequences. Assessing modern work environments in psychosocial risk assessments would be a valuable addition to its completeness.