Stress intervention

In the previous three chapters we looked at the costs – to workers, families and employing organisations – of job insecurity and work intensification. In light of these costs, it is not surprising that stress intervention in the workplace has become the subject of a growing number of research reports, some of which have received extensive coverage in the mass media. Much of this research examines the need for organisational health promotion programmes and employee assistance programmes, of which stress management is often an integral part. There is a very wide variety of existing practices and an equally diverse literature on various forms of organisational stress management programmes such as biofeedback, relaxation classes and various cognitive techniques for dealing with stress. Another area of stress intervention which has received a lot of attention is the provision of social support, the impact of which was demonstrated in Chapter 5 where we concluded that:

• Social support has a beneficial effect on health and well-being for all employees, not just those suffering from job insecurity or work intensification.