Key points
- Job stress happens when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker.
- Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury.

Overview
Job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of a job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury.
Related NIOSH research
- Understanding the influence of what are commonly termed "work organization" or "psychosocial" factors on stress, illness, and inury.
- Identifying ways to redesign jobs to create safer and healthier workplaces.
Related NIOSH activities
- Defining characteristics of healthy work organizations
- Developing work organization interventions to promote safe and healthy work conditions
- Surveilling the changing nature of work
- Designing work schedule to protect the health and well-being of workers
- Studying the effects of new organizational policies and practices on worker health and safety
- Examining changing worker demographics (race/ethnicity, sex, and age) and worker safety and health
- Investigating work organization, cardiovascular disease, and depression
- Researching psychological violence in the workplace
- Publishing educational documents on work, stress, and health
Job stress and NORA
Organization of Work Team
The National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA), Organization of Work Team worked with partners to identify essential research and other requirements to better understand how work organization is changing, the safety and health implications of these changes, and prevention measures. The team developed the NIOSH report "The Changing Organization of Work and the Safety and Health of Working People."
Healthy Work Design and Well-Being Program
The NORA Healthy Work Design and Well-Being Program was developed to protect and advance worker safety, health, and well-being by improving the design of work, management practices, and the physical and psychosocial work environment. Job stress is identified as a priority area of the program.
Resources
Stress...At Work Booklet - DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 99 This booklet highlights knowledge about the causes of stress at work and outlines steps that can be taken to prevent job stress.
Worker Health Chartbook 2004: Anxiety, Stress, and Neurotic Disorders - DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2004-146 (2004) Provides data for anxiety and stress disorders based on magnitude and trend, age, sex race/ethnicity, severity, occupation, and industry.
Related NIOSH webpages
- Aircraft Safety and Health - Job Stress
- Cardiovascular Disease and Work
- NIOSH Quality of Worklife Questionnaire
- Work and Fatigue
Search the NIOSHTIC-2 search results on job stress to find additional occupational safety and health publications on this topic from NIOSH or a NIOSH-supported projects.