Almost 10 percent of those in employment in Germany are workaholic. In addition to the self-employed and managers, one professional group is particularly affected.
Countless hours of overtime, work at the weekend and no relaxation on vacation: those who are addicted to work never end their day. How widespread is the phenomenon in Germany and who is particularly at risk? A team of researchers from the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Federal Institute for Vocational Training is answering these questions as part of a Study pursued. For this, data from over 8,000 employees from 2017 and 2018 was evaluated.
A workaholic works excessively and compulsively
The authors name excessively long working hours and other characteristics of excessive work, such as working on several tasks at the same time, as criteria for workaholism. On the other hand, addictive work includes a compulsiveness, which is noticeable, for example, in the fact that those affected have a guilty conscience if they do not work or cannot relax on vacation. As can be seen in the graph below, 9.8 percent of the employed are affected by a workaholism. Even higher, at 33 percent, is the proportion of people who work excessively but not compulsively.
–
Managers, the self-employed and farmers are particularly affected
One finding of the study: Managers in particular often show signs of a workaholism – the higher up the management level, the higher the risk of suffering from a workaholism. Even more affected than executives, of whom 12.4 percent are workaholic, are the self-employed at 13.9 percent.
There are major differences between the occupational groups when it comes to workaholism – employees in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and horticulture are particularly affected. 19 percent of them tend to work addictively. Computer scientists and natural scientists are least affected with only six percent.
Workaholics are often young and work in small businesses
Socio-demographic characteristics seem to play only a minor role in the problem of workaholism. However, the authors were able to identify significant differences between the age groups. For example, the proportion of workaholics between the ages of 15 and 24 is 12.6 percent, while among the 55 to 64 year olds only 7.9 percent show signs of a workaholism. In addition, the number of workaholics tends to decrease with the size of the company.
Do you think you have a workaholic problem yourself? You can find a list of the most important signs in our article on the subject. Our workaholic quiz can also help you find out if you should seek medical advice.
–
