In 2024, 16 percent of employees had a stressful job with high demands and little freedom. These jobs require a lot from people while giving them little room to do their work as they wish. This is evident from figures from the National Survey on Working Conditions (NEA) by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and TNO.
Of the employees, 42 percent experience little autonomy: freedom to decide how, where, and when they perform their work. Thirty-two percent say they have high task demands, for example, because they have to work very quickly or do a lot of work. Half of them also experience little autonomy and thus fall into the group with stressful work.

Half of Pharmacy Assistants Have Stressful Work

Stressful work occurs most often in professions with many direct responsibilities and little room for regulation. In these jobs, people often have to perform their tasks largely according to fixed instructions or protocols. Pharmacy assistants most often have stressful work (51 percent), followed by primary school teachers and medical practice assistants (both 39 percent).

The other professions in the top ten are mainly in healthcare, education, and hospitality. In the past five years, the percentage of employees with stressful work has slightly decreased, from 18 percent to 16 percent. The top ten professions with a lot of stressful work is almost identical to that of five years ago.