WASHINGTON — The American workplace is grueling, stressful and surprisingly hostile.
So concludes an in-depth study of 3,066 U.S. workers by the Rand Corp., Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Los Angeles. Among the findings:
“Wow, (work) is a pretty taxing place for many people,” Maestas says. “I was surprised by how pressured and hectic the workplace is.”
In many cases, less-educated workers endure tougher working conditions. For example, fewer than half of men without college degrees can take a break whenever they want to, compared to more than 76 percent of men with college degrees. Likewise, nearly 68 percent of men without degrees spend at least a fourth of their time moving heavy loads.
Maestas wonders whether toxic working conditions are keeping Americans out of the labor force. The percentage of Americans who are working or looking for work – 62.9 percent in July – has not returned to pre-recession levels and is well below its 2000 peak of 67.3 percent.
The unemployment rate is at a 16-year low, and many employers complain they can’t fill jobs.
“There’s a message for employers here,” Maestas says. “Working conditions really do matter.”
