Over the past three years, the work environment at Swedish employers has deteriorated. Among other things, stress levels are rising and recovery time is decreasing. Nearly 40 percent feel stressed. It is not clear whether the pandemic is behind this downward trend, but it is likely having an impact. There are differences between various industries.

Brilliant Future conducted an employee survey in which it asked a number of questions to assess the work environment. The focus was on the organizational and social aspects of the work environment. The study is based on a total of one million responses that were compiled and analyzed between 2019 and 2023.

Over the past three years, the work environment at many Swedish workplaces has deteriorated. The survey shows that stress is on the rise, recovery time is decreasing, and a significant proportion of employees feel they have no control over their work situation. This negative trend has particularly affected the service industry and the construction and manufacturing sectors. In addition, there are concerning figures regarding workplace conflicts, with differences observed across various industries.

Compared to the situation at the start of the pandemic, the proportion of people reporting poor recovery has also increased, and roughly the same number feel exhausted.

“As a leader, it’s important to take a proactive approach,” says Lovisa Rosén, HR Manager at ByHart. “Returning to a clear, systematic approach to workplace health and safety, combined with active and engaged leadership, is crucial.” In our HR partnerships, we see that our hands-on managerial support makes a significant positive difference for our clients, where workplace safety and health initiatives gain substantial momentum, resulting in positive outcomes—not least financial ones.

Learn more about how we handle HR at your company.

Differences between industries

One of the most notable trends is that stress levels are rising the most in the service industry, followed by the construction and manufacturing sectors. Employees in these sectors are experiencing increased stress and fewer opportunities to recover.

The survey also shows that more than a third of employees feel they have no influence over their work situation following the pandemic. This sense of powerlessness is particularly pronounced in the service industry, where employees feel limited in their ability to influence and improve their working conditions.

A worrying trend is that about a quarter of employees experience some form of negative conflict in their workplaces. Furthermore, it appears that these problems are not decreasing over time, and there are significant differences across industries. The service industry and the construction and manufacturing sectors report a higher frequency of conflicts compared to the service sector.

Questions asked in the survey

• Are there conflicts in your work group that are having a negative impact on your work?
• Do you generally experience a reasonable amount of stress at work?
• Do you get enough time to recover between workdays?
• Do you receive support when you have a heavy workload?
• Do you have what it takes to do a good job?
• Can you influence your work situation?
• Have you been subjected to discriminatory treatment, bullying, sexual harassment, or other forms of discrimination at work in the past 12 months?
• Do you feel respected by your boss?