Understanding Modern-Day Stress: 4 Most Stressful Occupations

Updated on December 31, 2019

The world is ever-increasing in pace and pressure – even in the simplest of jobs, stress can pile up! But have you ever wondered what the most stressful jobs in society today are? If so, read on to find out the most stressful occupations, and even whether yours made the list.

Police Officers

It goes without saying that police officers have one of the most stressful jobs in the world – daily, they tackle crimes and disturbances, dealing with everything from robberies to murders, all pushing their skills and abilities to the max. Not only are police officers facing situations that are frightening, disturbing and potentially dangerous, but they often have to think on their feet and make decisions that could literally mean the difference between life and death. If that doesn’t persuade you, then it’s worth knowing when it comes to insurance, there’s a policy specifically for police officers since they face such stress. Police officers have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, so it’s no wonder it kicks off our list.

Financial Manager

You might not think at first glance that financial managers have a particularly stressful job, especially considering the salary, but you’d be surprised to learn that financial managers actually have it pretty tough. Their main role means they need to make huge decisions for businesses, ones that could either make or break the business and its success, and with the rate that businesses are developing and growing nowadays, these decisions have never been more vital. A lot of people also need to rely on financial managers for these decisions, whether that’s on what they should do next or whether they need to change direction. There are plenty of knock-on effects from a financial manager, meaning a lot of people are pinning their actions and goals on what they do. Working with difficult people who may be stubborn or uncooperative is also an unfortunate part of the job. Ultimately, more important decisions and less time to make them adds up for a pretty stressful time.

Social Worker

There aren’t many jobs that include situations as difficult, disturbing, and emotionally challenging as social workers. Their job encompasses a variety of situations, particularly with children who may have been abused or abandoned, and there isn’t always a happy ending for these cases. It can be stressful to not only be faced with such turmoil but not being able to do anything more to fix the situation. This doesn’t mean the job isn’t incredibly rewarding, but among the situations they need to face and the increasing rates of child maltreatment, this makes social work one of the most stressful jobs out there.

Construction Worker

Construction workers are sometimes seen as having a pretty easy life, but this is far from the case. In construction, there are plenty of things that can cause a lot of stress – often, although health and safety regulations mean they’re out of serious harm, they have to work in dangerous circumstances, whether that’s working high up, within unsafe infrastructure, or with machines that need to be handled extremely carefully. Not only this but they also often need to stick to strict deadlines, meaning the pressure is on to work fast and complete jobs under often a very limited amount of time. This can often mean construction workers end up working in difficult weather conditions also, such as rain, hail, high winds, or freezing cold. When you add everything up, it becomes clear just how stressful this job can be.

Stress is becoming more and more common in every job, but these four careers above have it the toughest. Did your occupation make the list?

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The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.