Almost half of public sector employees in Belgium experience some form of ‘digital stress’ according to a new study. A new research report from the Arteveldehogeschool university college in Ghent suggests that Belgian public employees spend most of their time behind a screen – between seven to eight hours per day.
Three Arteveldehogeschool researchers polled 820 public sector employees on their uses of digital tools and their experiences with technology-related stress as part of the study. Forty percent of respondents reported experiencing “a lot of” digital stress, while 10% of the participants reported experiencing “very high levels” of digital stress.
According to the three researchers – Lotte Vermeulen, Vicky Franssen and Annelore Deprez – public sector workers like teachers and health care workers are more likely to experience technology-related stress than general workers.
To tackle digital stress among public sector employees, the researchers recommended that lawmakers focus not just on the technological factors that cause workers stress, but also the factors that make it worse such as high work pressure and low job satisfaction.
Linda A. Thompson
Brussels Times
