More than half of staff experience work-related stress

Almost 60 percent of Erasmus University employees experience work-related stress, with 32 percent experiencing it to a high degree. This is according to the annual staff survey. Workload and work-related stress have been high for years, as the surveys consistently show. The results differ little from those of recent years.

The most satisfied faculties, according to the 2026 staff survey, are the Erasmus School of Law and Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management. The most deeply negative scores can be found at the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication and at the International Institute of Social Studies. Among the support departments, HR has the highest satisfaction scores, while Finance records the lowest.

The 2026 results differ little from those of 2025, which in turn differed little from those of 2024. Across the university, several scores increased by one-tenth of a point. The score for Inclusion rose from 7.2 to 7.3, while opportunities for development increased from 6.3 to 6.4. Only the category work-life balance rose by two-tenths of a point to 6.7. The opportunities to work in a hybrid way have been rated highest for years and remain the only score approaching an 8 – rising from 7.7 to 7.8. Work-related stress once again scores the lowest: 5.3 this year, although that is also up by one-tenth of a point.

Work-related stress

At only one department across all faculties and services does work-related stress receive a clearly satisfactory score: employees in Human Resources give their level of experienced stress a 6.8. A high score for work-related stress means that staff experience relatively little stress, while a failing score indicates high levels of stress. Work-related stress stems most of the time from a high workload. According to the survey, large amounts of work, responsibilities that are too demanding, a lack of social support, or problems outside work can all cause work-related stress. Examples include frequently feeling tense or restless and sleeping poorly because work-related problems are constantly on your mind.

58.7 percent of employees experience work-related stress. By far the largest group of employees say they need more hours each week to complete their work. Seventeen percent need up to two extra hours, while 4 percent say they could use more than 12 extra hours. Thirty-eight percent of employees say they do not need any extra time.

The difference in work-related stress between support staff and academic staff is considerable, although neither group gives it a satisfactory score. Academic staff rate it at 4.7, a full point lower. Assistant professors in particular experience high levels of stress, giving it an average score of 4.1. Among all academic staff, only professors give their work-related stress a narrowly satisfactory score: 6.

Social safety

According to the survey, the sense of social safety has deteriorated over the past year. Whereas 86 percent said in 2025 that they had never experienced unwanted behaviour, this year the figure was 80 percent. Thirteen percent of employees sometimes or regularly experience aggression, discrimination, bullying, (sexual) violence or other unwanted behaviour. Verbal aggression is mentioned most often, and the unwanted behaviour mainly came from direct colleagues.

Direct managers or supervisors could do more to address problematic behaviour among staff. Fifty-four percent say this happens, compared with 56 percent in 2025. Speaking up within a team about day-to-day matters is not easy either, although 58 percent say they can do so safely. Raising issues between colleagues feels safer: 70 percent feel comfortable doing this.

Follow-up

While most employees say they worked on their personal development over the past year (73 percent) and had sufficient opportunities to do so (70 percent), it is not clear what they can do with that personal growth within the university. For 41 percent it is clear which career steps they can take internally. For 59 percent it is not, or not entirely.

Most employees believe more should be done with the survey results. Thirty-five percent say they are satisfied with the changes made in their own team over the past year.