Stressed out UK employees fear workplace overload and redundancy

Nearly half of UK workers are losing sleep

Contact: Nina Michell, SkillSoft +44 (0)1276 401950 nina_michell@skillsoft.com

5th January 2009 Michelle Anker The Whiteoaks Consultancy +44 (0)1252 727313 michellea@whiteoaks.co.uk

Camberley, UK. — 5 January 2009 — At the start of what is set to be a challenging year, 92% of employees are experiencing stress in the workplace and almost a third (31%) fear redundancy in the coming year, according to a new independent survey by global e-learning provider, SkillSoft.

The independent online study, conducted by Onepoll on behalf of SkillSoft, took place at the end of November 2008 and involved 3,000 respondents across 14 business sectors, revealed that 44% of workers were losing sleep through stress, almost a third (32%) were becoming over-emotional for the same reason and 15% were drinking to help them cope.

Within the workplace, the fear of having an increased workload and worrying about redundancy are the top two stress factors for people, with 34% and 31% of people feeling these are their biggest fears for the coming year.

“There is a worry out there about what the future holds for employment and people are nervous that they won’t have the skills to cope with what may be required of them to keep their jobs,” says Kevin Young, managing director of SkillSoft EMEA. “Stress is affecting productivity too, with 24% of people admitting to taking time off work due to stress,” he adds, “e-learning can make a real difference in ensuring people have the skills to cope with the increased work demands.”

As well as providing essential skills development to help employees carry out their jobs effectively, SkillSoft also recognises the importance of well-being in the workplace. Its e-books collection Well-BeingEssentials,includes topics on stress management, work-life balance, emotional well-being and much more, and aims to help employees deal with these types of every day struggles.

The top three stress sectors were Construction where 25% felt stress ‘all of the time’, Education, with 24% and Medicine/Caring with 23%. HR stood out, not because it reflected the highest levels but because of a constant ‘sometimes’ level of 83%, perhaps due to having to administer employee redundancies and manage employee stress.

Almost a quarter of employees feel they have a lack of control over their day, a third are frustrated with their working environment and 15% feel they don’t have enough training to allow them to do their jobs as well as they’d like.

SkillSoft offers a wide range of e-learning solutions, including a range of courses, videos and e-books on how to beat stress in the workplace. The training allows participants to expand their knowledge and train in the office by learning at their own pace. The advantage to employees is that they are provided with help and support to empower them in work and for employers, the e-learning solutions that SkillSoft provide can be accessed on-site so there is no need for costly absences.

For more information on SkillSoft please visit www.skillsoft.com

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About SkillSoft ( www.skillsoft.com)
SkillSoft EMEA, headquartered in Surrey, is a division of SkillSoft PLC (Nasdaq: SKIL), a leading SaaS provider of e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses. SkillSoft enables business organisations to maximise business performance through a combination of comprehensive e-learning content, online information resources, flexible learning technologies and support services.

Content offerings include business, IT, desktop, compliance and consumer/SMB courseware collections, as well as complementary content assets such as Leadership Development Channel video products, KnowledgeCenter™ portals, virtual instructor-led training services and online mentoring services. SkillSoft’s Books24x7® product offering includes access to more than 20,000 digitised IT and business books, as well as book summaries and executive reports. Technology offerings include the SkillPort® learning management system, Search-and-Learn®, SkillSoft® Dialogue ™ and virtual classroom.

SkillSoft courseware content described herein is for information purposes only and is subject to change without notice. SkillSoft has no obligation or commitment to develop or deliver any future release, upgrade, feature enhancement or function described in this press release except as specifically set forth in a written agreement. SkillSoft, the SkillSoft logo, SkillPort, Search-and-Learn, SkillChoice, Books24x7, ITPro, BusinessPro, OfficeEssentials, GovEssentials, EngineeringPro, FinancePro, AnalystPerspectives, ExecSummaries, ExecBlueprints, Express Guide and Dialogue are all trademarks or registered trademarks of SkillSoft PLC in the United States and certain other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners, countries.