KEY POINTS:
When someone says "I'm so stressed out" most people imagine that person working long hours, rushing around, unable to breathe or keep up with what's demanded of them. However - there's another way of being "stressed out" and that's when you are facing the opposite problem - you're in a job that's not demanding enough of you, you're not being given challenges, you're being underrated and are not getting opportunities - you're underemployed.
Auckland's Dr Stress, John McEwan, says studies indicate there is a bell curve impact of stress and there's a severe effect at either extreme of the curve - if someone is overloaded or underloaded.
McEwan says an organisation is working efficiently when people know how they can achieve and they are achieving. "People perform best when they feel they can achieve. Their ability to perform goes up when they are performing and down as they feel they're not performing."
A good person who is underemployed tends to feel less valued and less worthy, McEwan explains.
"A person can lose the ability to function. One of the reasons that prison systems use solitary confinement is to break someone - this is by putting them in a place with nothing to do. This affects those who are particularly used to lots of stimulation."
He says this breaking of the spirit happens in industry - "This can be when a person stays at a desk, but is not doing anything that's worth doing. Those with limited ability can handle this - but those with ability will start to implode with too little stimulation."
There are bosses who use this "technique" to break an employee - it's a prime tool of the workplace bully.
"Firms get rid of people that way. It can also cause depression, loss of motivation and energy and eventually can lead to health problems. People talk more about burnout because it's more dramatic, but this is equally as devastating, it creeps up subtly. If you mention the problem to friends, most would say you should be fine. Few people understand the problem," McEwan says.
"The key is the brain must have purposeful activity. If you're not getting this at work, I suggest you study, even if not formally, get a book. Use the time. Give yourself a sense of moving forward. Position yourself for getting a better job. Use the job that you've got to achieve something better. Move forward."
McEwan says occupying yourself with crosswords or puzzles is ok to start off with - but you need to move on to something else - something that will give you direction.
Dr Dianne Gardner, senior lecturer, School of Psychology at Massey University, agrees that underemployment can be problematic. She says being underemployed is when your education, skills and experience exceed what you're doing in your work; when you're in a field that you're not quite qualified for or when you've experienced a loss of status in your work.
She says the people mainly affected by underemployment are young people who have good qualifications, but little experience; older people who have been made redundant and have been re-employed in a lesser job than they originally did; and migrants who are unable to get jobs in the field they are qualified for. "For an employer - underemployment is a disaster. Employees who are underemployed are not going to stay. They feel their skills are going rusty and feel dissatisfied."
Underemployed people are, of course, not contributing as much to the business as they could.
"Being underemployed could lead to depression, poor health and lack of motivation.
"People resent it when they feel they're not valued. Their self-esteem is affected, as is the feeling of having wasted time and money on studies if their expectations are not being met by their contribution."
Gardner points out that sometimes underemployment is a choice. Perhaps a person wants to focus on life outside work for a while and therefore has chosen a job that makes few demands. If this is the case, there is no problem, she says. The problem comes when the employee feels she or he has no choices at all - when there's a feeling of being trapped.
Ways to get out of the trap would be to "know yourself, your skills, abilities, aims and goals, look in the mirror first".
"Do training courses. Look for opportunities. Remember - New Zealand has a skills shortage. There are a lot of choices - look for a job elsewhere."
She emphasises that you need to be realistic. "Try to be objective about what you really can do. Look at your interests and values and see how they suit different jobs. Look at the internet, talk to people in jobs or companies that you're interested in.
"Some experimentation may be necessary - not everything will work out.
"You also need to work out what it is about your current job that is making you feel like this. Can you ask for opportunities? Kiwis tend not to be 'in your face'. You need to remember that your boss is not a mind reader.
"If you're feeling underemployed, you need to ask for more opportunities. Do in-house research. What's available in the company? Don't wait for someone to rescue you - there's not always a magic door, sometimes you have to knock.
"You also need to ask why you took the job in the first place. Perhaps you've grown and the job hasn't. It doesn't work for the boss if you're not dedicated to what you're doing - and most employers won't want the expense of replacing you. Just ask."
Another way with dealing with underemployment is to get extra qualifications, she says.
The best fit for an employer is when a person's skills, abilities and experience match the organisation's requirements. An employer should want to keep such a person and so needs to make sure the person wants to stay. The organisation needs to ensure that the employees needs, values, priorities and motives are seen to, Gardner says.
Business psychologist, executive coach at SQ Executive Management Consultancy and author of Get Your Groove Back, Jasbinder Singh, agrees. She says that underemployment happens when there's a perceptual mismatch between self-concept and capability and the current job situation.
"It can happen when you've lost a job that you loved and you're no longer getting the perks you are used to. Perhaps you're not getting the hours you're capable of."
Singh says it can cause stress because: "We all need a sense of meaning and purpose, a sense of achievement, acceptance and control. We need to have a sense of mastery over our lives. When you're underemployed you don't have this - your personal effectiveness is involved."
Singh stresses that this is negative for both the employer and employee. "The employee has experiences of frustration, a feeling of living in groundhog day (where every day is the same).
"It can cause depression, physical and mental problems and even substance abuse for the employee. For the employer there is an impact on productivity and not getting a return on investment. Also, emotions are contagious - if an employee is feeling flat, that can affect the team dynamics.
"An employer wants an employee to be engaged in the work, under-employment is about not being engaged."
Singh agrees that sometimes the employee needs to take the initiative, to go to the employer and say "I think I can do more, or can I be sent on such and such course."
"You need to ask: where am I now and where do I want to be?
"Get active. Network, look for other opportunities. If you don't take action a sense of powerlessness steps in.
"In extreme cases where people are already depressed or abusing substances, my advice would be to seek help. Talk to someone."
Singh also suggests that those feeling underemployed should look at their lives more holistically. "Look at your family relationships - or perhaps you need to start house renovations.
"One's job is significant - but there are things beyond that. We are all growing and developing, even negative circumstances can be good. We can reach a sense of mastery and self awareness when challenged by negative circumstances."
