59% would leave their jobs for a less stressful one

Employers be warned, give your staff too much stress and they will leave you. According to CareerCast's new survey, almost three in five (59%) would leave their profession for a less stressful one if they could.

Of the 1,071 readers, surveyed, 82% said their jobs fall on the more stressful end. Stress levels were ranked on a 0-to-10 scale – with 0 denoting no stress, and 10 signifying constant stress. A score of 8 was the most popular overall at 24.6%, with a score of 7 receiving 23.2% of responses.

Public Safety workers and those in the Entertainment industry were the most stressed at work (91% had stress levels of 7 or more), and IT workers were the least stressed (50%reported stress levels higher than 7).

Surprisingly, those in the education sector reported higher stress levels than healthcare workers. Almost nine in 10 (88.9%) of education employees had a stress score of 7 or higher, while 69% of healthcare workers reported the same stress levels. While in customer service, 78% of respondents in the industry ranked their stress levels at 7 or higher.

What causes these employees to be so stressed?

Deadlines (30%) were cited as the top cause of employees' stress, followed by being responsible for the lives of others (17%), competitiveness (10.2%), and physical demands (8.4%).

Top 10 Causes of Stress

1. Deadlines (30%)

2. Life of another at risk (17%)

3. Competitiveness (10%)

4. Physical demands (8%)

5. Working in the public eye (8%)

6. Growth potential (7%)

7. Life at risk (7%)

8. Hazards encountered (5%)

9. Meeting the public (4%)

10. Travel (3%)

The survey pointed out that the average American working a full-time job spends 47 hours per week at work. Of the respondents, 84% are employed full-time, meaning that they are spending almost 40% of their waking hours facing stress on the job - a long time to be under a lot of stress.

"There isn't much you can do about reducing stress if you are on the front lines and responsible for the lives of others aside from changing careers," says Kyle Kensing, online content editor, CareerCast. "However, if deadlines are causing undue stress at work, ask your supervisor for additional resources to help with the project or find out if timelines can be relaxed to find some relief."

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