Description
Although occupational stress is costly, research on the economic costs of occupational stress in the Asian context remains scarce. This study aims to identify and validate common job stressors and estimate their economic costs in Hong Kong. The role of positive emotions in alleviating the economic costs of job stressors is also examined. The findings obtained from five focus group discussions and a survey (N = 2032) validated five common job stressors: job insecurity; quantitative workload; organizational constraints; interpersonal conflicts; and work/home interface. The annual cost of absenteeism, presenteeism, and medical expenses attributed to job stressors ranged from HK$549.32 million to HK$858.28 million, HK$1.37 billion to HK$2.15 billion, and HK$3.38 billion to HK$11.89 billion respectively. The total annual economic cost of occupational stress, estimated by combining the costs of absenteeism, presenteeism, and medical expenses, was approximately HK$5.30 billion to HK$14.89 billion. Positive emotions were found to be negatively correlated with presenteeism and could buffer the negative impact of job stressors on absenteeism. The theoretical contributions and practical implications of this study are discussed.| Period | 11 May 2021 |
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| Event title | Chair Professor Research Sharing Webinar Series |
| Event type | Public Lecture |
| Organisers | School of Graduate Studies, Institute of Policy Studies |
| Location | Hong KongShow on map |