The Relationship between Perceived Stress and Work Engagement – Evidence from Public Institutions Managing EU Funds

Organizational stress is the ability of employees to responde to workplace demands with limited resources. At times, stress can be good for work engagement, but an overdose of it results in negative outcomes. Given that the role of stress is determined as a critical one in workplace dynamics, assessing employees’ perceptions of stress is essential. In this study we examine the relationships between stress, work engagement, gender, and age among employees managing European funds in Romanian public institutions. Emplyees that are involved in EU projects take on additional responsabilities that contribute to national development. It, therefore, becomes particularly relevant to explore the stress and the engagement of their perception levels. The importance of these factors is crucial, as their work directly impacts the efficient management of public resources. For data collection, this investigation used the Perceived Stress Scale and the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale - Short Version (UWES-9) as measurement tools for the research variables, and validated their internal consistency via McDonald’s Omega coefficient. This research adds value by testing established hypotheses in the context of public sector employees managing European funds – an understudied group in the existing literature. According to the outcomes, the study also supports the hypothesis that women report higher stress levels than man, consistent with prior research. Likewise, contrary to our predictions, the study shows that stress levels increase with age. Furthermore, the results of our study showed no signs of a similar relationship affect between work engagement and age. Despite no significant gender differences in work engagement were identified, a significant negative correlation between stress and work engagement was strongly determined. The data point out the importance of stress management strategies, particularly for employees in demanding public sector roles.Future research should search out for the additional new determinants that influence stress and engagement, including coping mechanisms and organizational support systems.