Some professionals—first responders, for example—naturally experience more stress on the job, but last year more people overall felt "unduly stressed" at work, according to the 2019 CareerCast Job Stress report. The percentage of people rating their job stress at seven or higher on a ten-point scale jumped to 78 percent this year, up from 69 percent of people saying that in the 2017 CareerCast stress survey. Why the jump? That's a really good question – and something CareerCast will explore further in its 2020 survey, says Kyle Kensing, the jobsite's online content editor. "It would be fascinating to find out how much more or less stress people feel from year to year, or whether they feel the same amount of stress," Kensing says. "Once someone builds up experience and comfort with the job, they may be less stressed, but there may be other factors – perhaps they're stagnating in their job and not moving up as quickly as they like, or they have wage stagnation." What's causing the most stress? Deadlines was the most common answer in this year's survey, with 38 percent of respondents feeling that, followed by growth potential (or lack thereof) and interacting with the public, with 14 percent citing each of those factors. To rank the most and least stressful careers from the 200 professions on the Jobs Rated report, CareerCast evaluated 11 stress factors: travel required; growth potential; deadlines; working in the public eye; competition in the field; physical demands; environmental conditions; hazards encountered on a regular basis; own life at risk; life of others at risk; and meeting or interacting with the public at large. "Stress in the workplace might prompt job seekers to consider a career change," Kensing says. "However, people who thrive on the pressures inherent to high-stress jobs and are willing to put themselves in immediate danger, might choose a stressful job like firefighter or police officer. While no job is stress-free, choosing a profession based on its stress level is purely a personal choice." Read more: 

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