Stress levels are rising among staff at the European Central Bank, according to a survey that found nearly 40% of its employees are at risk of burnout, while 9% have suicidal thoughts.
The survey results, which are available to the Financial Times, show that workplace stress at the ECB has increased in recent years.
Some employees claim that suffer from burnout, while others feel out of control, treated unfairly or receiving insufficient support.
The results of the survey, conducted in April and May at the request of the ECB Staff Committee, elected by workers led trade unionists to call for workers’ welfare to be taken more seriously.
“Mistakes will be made”
Carlos Bowles, vice-president of the Ipso trade union that represents ECB staff, said: “The last thing Europe needs right now is to see the ECB’s internal processes compromised by poor judgement or errors in data analysis before making a crucial interest rate decision.”
Favoritism and “fixed recruitment”
Along with the heavy workload, Bowles cited concerns about the effects of favoritism and “fixed recruitment” on employees’ mental health.
The proportion of ECB staff considered by the surveyors to be at risk of burnout rose from 33.2% in the previous survey in 2021 to 38.9% this year, while 146 staff, or 9.1% of respondents, said they had had suicidal thoughts – up from 6.1% in 2021.
Psychosomatic problems
More than 72% of respondents said they suffered from at least one of the psychosomatic symptoms listed in the survey – a list that includes headaches, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems and concentration problems.
The study carried out by Psy@work was based on responses from 1,602 members of staff out of a total of 5,089 ECB employees.
It is worth noting that EU officials have clashed with the ECB in the past over staff pay, even filing a formal complaint last year. as staff received a 4% pay rise at the start of 2023 – less than half the eurozone inflation rate last year.
However, stress levels among ECB staff do not differ much from those of the average European worker. Physical or emotional burnout was reported by 39% of EU-based workers surveyed in 2021 by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
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