It is vitally important for employers in serviced offices to keep a close eye on staff wellbeing and support it where they can, Cable&Wireless Worldwide has said.

The company said that the issue of workplace stress should be a “key consideration” in allocating resources to support wellbeing, as the economic climate may have pushed more people to become stressed.

Debbie Meech, who is the people director at the telecoms company, said: “The recession has been hard on employees and no organisation can say they are stress free. Employers need to closely monitor any signs of plummeting wellbeing, such as an increased absence level of increases in certain types of illness, serious incidents and injuries.”

The recent GfK NOP International Employee Engagement survey showed that a quarter of young British workers say they are frequently affected by stress in the workplace and the effects it has on them physically.