Company growth 'bad for health'

Working for a company that expands rapidly increases an employee's risk of long-term sickness, say researchers.

The Lancet study by experts from the Swedish National Institute for Psychosocial Medicine also found hospital admission rates increased.

The team found women working in the public sector were worst affected.

Experts suggest while expansion may be thought to be beneficial, growing firms may have too few qualified staff and feel generally unstable.

Previous research looked at the negative health effects of downsizing, but the Swedish team believe theirs is the first to look at the opposite phenomenon.

They studied the employment records of 24,000 healthy workers aged under 65 in 1999.

They looked at long-term sick leave (of over 90 days) and hospital admission rates.

Significant company expansion, classed as an increase in the number of employees of 18% or more in a year, was found to be linked to an increased risk of long-term sickness absence and hospital admission.

Women in the public sector who were exposed to large expansion every year over the six years of the study had a two to three times higher risk of long-term sickness absence than those who were never exposed to large expansion.

Researchers suggest this could be because public sector jobs such as healthcare and education, commonly dominated by women, have been linked to increased demands and hazards.

Being exposed to moderate expansion (between 8 and 18% increase in staff in a year) resulted in a decreased risk of hospital admission.

研究人员提出，在快速发展的公司中工作，员工长期患病的风险增加。

瑞典国家心理医学研究院的专家们在《柳叶刀》杂志上发表的研究结果中也发现由于公司的快速发展，员工的住院率增加。

瑞典国家心理医学研究院的研究人员发现在公共部门工作的妇女受到的影响最大。

专家们指出，虽然公司的发展壮大也许是有益的，但快速发展的公司可能拥有合格员工的数量太少，而且普遍发展状况不稳定。

以前的研究已经注意到公司缩小发展规模给员工的身体健康带来的负面影响，但是瑞典国家心理医学研究院的研究人员认为他们的研究第一次着眼于恰恰相反的现象。

1999年，他们研究了24,000名年龄在65岁以下、身体健康的员工的工作记录。

他们关注的重点是超过90天的长时间病假和住院率。

如果公司一年中新增的员工数量达到或超过18%，那么公司处于高速发展时期。公司的迅速发展与员工长期患病缺勤和住院风险的上升有关。

经过6年多的研究，研究人员发现，在公共部门任职、每年经历部门大规模扩张的妇女长期患病缺勤的风险比从未经历过公司大规模扩张的妇女高两到三倍。

研究人员指出这种现象也许是因为医疗保健和教育等公共事业部门的职业要求和风险在日益增长，而女性在这些部门中占主导地位。

如果公司一年内员工人数的增长在8%到18%之间，这种适度发展会使员工住院的风险下降。

hospital admission: 住院
downsizing: 减少规模
hazard: 危险