Some 53% of employees in Denmark believe that their workplace needs to improve how they prevent and manage stress, according to a new survey by Akademikerne, undertaken by Megafon.
In addition, more than three fifths (61%) believe employers need to improve their response when employees begin experiencing symptoms of stress.
Some 68% of employees surveyed said they had experienced symptoms of stress during the past year, including 19% who reported severe symptoms, the survey showed, The most commonly cited causes were high workloads, identified by 54% of respondents, followed by time pressure and deadlines at 44%, and poor management at 42%.
‘Greater responsibility’
“With this study, it becomes even clearer that the workplace must take greater responsibility for the mental working environment,” commented Tomas Kepler, chairman of Akademikerne, which represents 28 trade unions and more than half a million members.
“We are about to enter into tripartite negotiations with the government and employers. If we are to be able to afford welfare benefits in the future, we must also look at how we get people to stay in work. Here we need the employer side to contribute with constructive solutions. This is necessary, because stress is one of society’s biggest problems right now.”
Stress levels on the increase
According to various studies, the proportion of workers experiencing stress has risen from 13.4% in 2013 to as much as 33% in 2025.
A recent calculation by Statistics Denmark for the Danish Employers’ Association found that around one million Danes in employment had a ‘worryingly high’ level of stress in 2025. Of these, around 180,000 were estimated to have stress requiring treatment, which can include periods of sick leave.
The economic impact is also significant. According to the AE Council, stress costs Danish society around DKK 55 billion each year and is associated with a loss of 55,000 workers from the labour supply.
Akademikerne has called for greater action to address the problem, including mandatory management training in the psychological working environment and greater recognition of work-related stress within the workers’ compensation system.
Key takeaways
- 53% of Danish employees believe that their workplace should be better at preventing stress.
- 61% believe that their workplace needs to become better at taking countermeasures (e.g. changes in tasks, responsibilities, priorities, general support, etc.) when employees experience symptoms of stress.
- 68% of employees have had symptoms of stress within the past year. 19% percent respond that they have had ‘severe symptoms’
- The three most frequent reasons for stress symptoms are high workload (54%), time pressure/deadlines (44%) and poor management (42%). Read more here.
