Black Friday may be one of the best times of year to bag a bargain, but for the warehouse workers fulfilling orders it’s a time of increased stress.
This is according to a new study from StoreFeeder, which surveyed 500 warehouses workers across the UK.
It found that 45% of those working in the industry see an increase in stress levels when the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales kick in.
That’s especially the case among younger workers and those at entry level, with 65% of those at the very start of their career seeing increased stress during Black Friday.
This is compared to just 40% of those in middle management and just under 50% in senior management.
Interestingly, the largest amount of stress develops in workers who are in larger warehouses.
Just 15% of workers in warehouses with under 10 employees experienced heightened stress, and just under a quarter of workers in warehouses that have between 10 and 49 staff.
In warehouses with over 500 employees, 63% of workers experience heightened stress during the period, a significantly higher percentage than the Christmas period.
Ian Dade, Operations Manager at StoreFeeder said, “Black Friday is one of the busiest periods of the year, with orders increasing anywhere between 50% and 180%.
"Naturally, for many staff that means working longer hours, managing more orders and generally feeling the pressure a lot more to get products to their customers.”
“Planning in advance, ensuring the warehouse is ready and testing technology can all have a big impact on the smooth running of warehouses at this time, with the latter having a positive impact on mental health in warehouses.”
The findings around Black Friday stress comes part of a wider study, finding that 42% of warehouse workers’ mental health has suffered as a result of their job.
However, the industry is improving, with several initiatives having a big impact.
Restricting out-of-hours communication is having a positive impact on over 20% of those struggling with their mental health.
Additionally, better communication internally is also improving the mental health of a similar percentage of people.
Flexible working hours has also improved the mental health of one in five workers, as well as access to wellbeing services.
However, it’s technology that is having the biggest impact.
Going paperless, using PDAs to know where stock is located and the simplification of stock transfers individually has improved the mental health of over 40% of warehouse workers.
As a result, almost 40% of workers now believe their industry does well in managing mental health in the workplace.