GTI: 58% of Armenian businessmen indicate increase in stress level compared to 2009

PanARMENIAN.Net - More than half of leaders of privately held business (PHBs) globally (56%) feel their stress levels have increased over the last year. The research from the Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) 2010 cover the opinion of over 7,400 business owners across 36 economies, Grant Thornton Amyot press service told PanARMENIAN.Net

Mainland China tops the league for the most stressed leaders with 76% of business owners saying their stress levels have increased over the last year. Other economies that featured high in the stress league table were Mexico (74%), Turkey (72%) and Greece (68%). In Armenia the percentage of businessmen, who indicate increased stress level compared to 2009 is equal to 58%.

There appears to be a link between stress levels and GDP. Business owners in mainland China, Vietnam, Mexico, India and Turkey all feature high on the stress league table and are working in environments, where high growth is expected. But it’s not just in countries expecting high growth that stress levels are high – at the opposite end of the growth scale Ireland, Spain and Greece all feature high on the league scale. Alex MacBeath, global leader – markets at Grant Thornton International comments, “We have businesses at both ends of the GDP growth scale experiencing high stress for very different reasons. In mainland China the pressure is on to keep up with the pace of expansion while in Ireland, for example, the economy is retracting and business owners are worried about how they will keep their business alive.”

Business owners were asked about the major causes of workplace stress. Not surprisingly, the most common cause during 2009 was the economic climate with 38% of respondents globally citing this as one of the major causes of stress. This was followed by pressure on cash flow (26%) and competitor activities (21%).

Gagik Gyulbudaghyan, Managing Partner of Grant Thornton Armenia, comments, “In Armenia business owners feel pressures from different sides: economic climate changes (crisis) of 27%, heavy workload (19%), competitor activities (17%) and pressure on cash flow (14%) are the major obstacles Armenian businesses see in their day-to-day business management. The statistics is really very illustrative, and fairly presents the worries that our business owners have. It is worth mentioning that after pressure coming from economic crisis (which is common for all countries). Armenian business owners think, that heavy workload is the second major factor adding stress into their daily management.”

The survey also found a correlation between stress levels and the number of days off taken by an individual in a year. Countries at the top of the stress league are those, where business owners, on average, take fewer holidays each year. Armenia, for example, has an increase of 58% over the last year in stress level and is in the middle of the holiday league, with business owners on average taking 15 days of holiday during the year, which is more than the global average of 14 days.

Gagik Gyulbudaghyan notes, “Here we see vivid evidence, which shows that the stress level is in direct correlation with number of vacation days taken during the year. It proves that taking the time to step away from the business and to get into a different atmosphere, eases the stress in business and allows seeing new opportunities in decision making.”