A survey of Irish workers, the Irish Life's survey, finds that overall stress and anxiety are climbing, with nearly a third of adults reporting that they feel anxious or stressed more than half the time, and younger adults experiencing stress on at least a weekly basis.

The research shows that work is a central driver of this strain for under?35s, while those ages 35 to 54 tend to feel pressure from a combination of heavy workloads, parenting. and household responsibilities, highlighting how different life stages experience overlapping demands.

Within that broader mental?health picture, return?to?office policies stand out as a distinct stressor because they reduce the flexibility many employees had built into their lives during remote or hybrid work.

About one?third of employees say they feel at least some pressure to be in the office more than they would like, and communications from employers or public debate about mandatory office time are described as contributing to a sense of lost control over how and where work is performed.

Women, parents, and younger workers carry a disproportionate share of this burden, and the article emphasizes that these groups often used remote work to make complex care, commute, and cost?of?living arrangements viable.

Around 30 percent of women report that increased office hours have damaged their ability to manage responsibilities outside work, and parents are especially likely to report at least one stress factor tied to work or family, with about one-in-three saying reduced remote work has negatively affected them.

Source: https://www.irishtimes.com/business/work/2025/09/22/return-to-office-policies-adding-to-employee-stress-levels-irish-life/

So, the question for our readers is: Have Return-To-Work Policies Increased Workplace Stress?
 

Here is the opinion of one of the McCalmon editorial staff:

Jack McCalmon, Esq.

If you had conducted the survey prior to the pandemic, I think the results would have found that work is a major driver of stress and anxiety in people. I also believe that other things in life drive stress and anxiety in all of us…like traffic, inflation or unemployment. What the survey reveals to me is that organizations that are flexible about where employees work have a recruiting advantage over less flexible organizations, especially with young people. 
 

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