Economic Uncertainty

Abstract

M any employees are facing emotional crises related to current economic trends, which include company restructuring and downsizing, reduced benefits, and job loss. Whether one has a job or loses a job, these changes often result in increased stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, negative business trends are expected to continue into the mid 1990s. In one major metropolitan Midwest city alone more than 50% of the 86 companies served by an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) have decreased their staffs. The Holmes (1972) "Life Crisis Scale," which measures individual stress and risk for illness, ranks losing a job as causing half as much stress as the most severe event (loss of spouse through death or divorce). The loss or threat of losing a job has a profound effect on all aspects of employee function: physiological, psychological, and behavioral. Unemployment is experienced as a major loss and, to cope with and accept this loss, the employee needs to work through the steps of the grief process. Employees may develop psychosomatic stress responses and other maladaptive coping methods, such as increased smoking, drinking, and sleeplessness (Challenger, J.E. "The job hunt: Protecting your job." Kansas City Star, July 14, 1992). Occupational health nurses also may see increased absenteeism and health care claims. When employees feel powerless, it is not uncommon to see increased domestic violence or lawsuits against the company as ways to displace the