With the election in full swing, all the major political parties have suggested that there will be the need for significant cuts in public spending this year to begin to plug the massive deficit that exists in the economy. Whilst none of the parties are particularly clear about where the cuts will fall, it seems certain that job losses will result. David Cameron, Leader of the Conservative Party, speaking on ITV’s This Morning, said: “We need to go further and faster in public spending [cuts]…we want to have £6bn lower public spending [in the current financial year].”

Job losses have been a factor of every recession to date and the levels of support given to those being made redundant has increased significantly in the last fifteen years. However, those left behind are likely to experience augmented workloads and greater responsibilities which may put them at risk from stress related illnesses if not managed correctly.

Some commercial organisations have already recognised this issue and have invested in stress management training for managers to understand better the relationship between pressure and stress. This enables them to function as efficiently as possible under the circumstances, and reduce presenteeism in the company. Presenteeism is the problem of individuals in the workplace not functioning effectively because of medical or behavioural conditions, for example stress. The situation can be costly to organisations because this mental state induces bad decision making and disruption in the working environment.

The recession has forced many commercial companies to restructure and make significant savings which inevitably leads to job losses. Francis McGinty, from ISMA comments: “Some managers are aware that redundancies place extra pressure on the remaining members of staff and have come to us for advice on minimising the effects of stress in the workplace. We guided them through the development of a stress management policy and also trained key managers. They were delighted by the reaction from all their staff but, much more than that, were surprised by the fact that they actually reduced absenteeism and increased productivity as a result.”

ISMA (The International Stress Management Association) is the leading UK Professional Body in the specialist field of stress management. Chair of ISMA, Ann McCracken, says: “In this economic climate it is essential that organisations in both the Public and Private sectors implement methods of dealing with pressure in the workplace and preventing work related stress. Many companies underestimate the negative effects of work related stress and the benefits that are gained from stress training within their business.”