#workplace-anxiety

#workplace-anxiety

Glassdoor's word of the year in 2023 was "anxiety." "We've had a lot of sustained anxiety and that sustained anxiety is leading to fatigue," says Chris Martin, lead researcher on Glassdoor's economic research team. How it works: Each year, the team at Glassdoor looks at a list of terms to see which had the strongest growth in posts, comments and reviews on the jobs site.

I was 38, and the role - which oversaw standards, best practices, and technology for Amazon's 200+ site merchandisers - was the biggest of my life by far, one I'd been thrust into just three months after my arrival in Seattle and at Amazon. I was thrilled (and a bit terrified) by the size of the opportunity, and threw myself into it.

For many of us, the workplace in recent years has been dominated by anxiety. How will we keep our people safe? How will we adjust and adapt to hybrid work? How will we continue to be productive and profitable? How will I prove myself indispensable in the age of AI and keep my job? In this high- stress and high-stakes environment, some of this worry is a positive motivator, encouraging us to anticipate and prepare for future challenges.

The people who most need to experiment with AI-those in routine cognitive roles-experience the highest psychological threat. They're being asked to enthusiastically adopt tools that might replace them, triggering what neuroscientists call a "threat state." Research by Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School reveals that team learning requires psychological safety-the belief that interpersonal risk-taking feels safe. But AI adoption adds an existential twist: The threat isn't just social embarrassment; it's professional survival.

Only 31% of employees say they are engaged, while 42% know what's expected of them at work. Furthermore, 17% of workers are actively disengaged, feeling negativity towards their roles.