To ask how much (What kind of) work stress you would expect

[DuelingFanjo]

For £25,000 a year?

Or for £50,000?

When I worked as a bookseller and was on less than £12,000 a year (15 years ago) I had the usual stress that comes with working with customers, some key-holding duties and responsibility for ordering stock but no HR type duties or staffing responsibilities.

Now I am earning just over twice that (15 years later) I am finding the stressful situations are building up. For the first time ever I have had a sleepless night because of work worries.

Out of interest I just wonder what kinds of work stress/responsibilities would you expect or be comfortable with for around £25,000?

I don't think more money buys a company more leeway to stress you out.

Stress comes from feeling overwhelmed. It's normal for jobs to be challenging, and sometimes stressful, but if a job is constantly overwhelming you then there's something wrong IMO.

I know consultants on 125k who aren't particularly stressed because their work practices are sensible. They do feel responsible and worry about their patients, and there is stress from time to time, but overall they enjoy their jobs and feel energised by them rather than worn down.

In contrast I know people on minimum wage who are tearing their hair out due to shit bosses, unfair work practices, poor communication, all stuff that can and should be dealt with by their companies, but isn't.

For £25k salary I would be happy to put up with general job stress as you described when you were a bookseller but def not sleepless nights or being consumed with work related stress when I wasn't at work. No way. For £50k salary I would expect more pressure & be willing to give more to the job. Does depend on what the job is though tbf.

Agree with Calindana. I have friends in very low paid jobs that are always stressed and I have 2 friends that are anaesthetists and they are as co as cucumbers! I'm a part time teacher and although my job is tiring I have good boss and work in a lovely school so I rarely feel too stressed to sleep....unless we have OFSTED in!

It's tricky because I don't think it's really related to salary. It's more connected with a clash between the role and your personality.

For £25k I wouldn't really expect any sleepless nights unless I was creating them for myself ie I was worrying about an outcome that feasibly another person wouldn't worry about iyswim

I have a friend who earned less than £25k and used to have lots of sleepless nights, and worried days in the office too but ultimately I don't think her personality was right for that role so she couldn't switch off. Unless I was about to lose my job or business then I wouldn't expect too many sleepless nights in any job.

I don't put a value on stress. At whatever end of the pay scale there's always going to be an amount of stress involved. You need to work out what particularly is stressing you out. Colleagues? Pressure from management? Lack of resources to actually carry out your work effectively?

Some years ago I also felt stressed with work. I realised that it was more out of anxiety, for example, I would doubt my work and generally wasn't all that confident. It took me a while to deal with but I'm able to see that I am a valuable part of the team. On the other hand, in one of my previous jobs I had an awful experience with a bullying manager. She caused the stress that I was feeling, it would keep me up at night and I'd wake up with a feeling of dread. I handed in my notice and was done with that.

I'm no longer in a position where I could just leave my job without a care in the world but I have ways of dealing with the stress. Communication with colleagues is crucial as is having a strong belief in your capabilities.