An empirical investigation of level of job stress and potential non - work related stressors among operational level female workers in Garment Factories in Sri Lankan free trade zones

Abstract

Individual differences such as civil status, educational levels and age of the workers as moderators in the job stress process. This study empirically investigated four non - work related independent variables, which could influence on the job stress of the operational level female workers in garment factories in Free Trade Zones. These independent variables were home-work interface, fulfillment of basic human needs, perception'of job in the society and living condition. The study was conducted using a sample of 100 operational level female workers in the garment factory floor. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed using the software SPSS version 13.0. The data analyses include the univariate, bivariate and moderated stepwise multi-regression analysis. The finding of the result were significant, it was found that the level of stress among operational level female workers in Free Trade Zones were high. The results revealed that all the non-work related stressors are dominant in stress profile of the sample. The civil status and the educational level of the workers appeared to have served as moderators in mitigating the effects of job stress. The finding of the study are underlying the important of having understanding of impact of extra organizational factors on worker wellbeing and importance to undertake necessary actions to improve personal lives and stress reduction programs for operational level female garment workers in Free Trade Zones.