Britain's employees are feeling more insecure and pressured at work than at any time in the past 20 years, according to a national survey published last week.

The Skills and Employment Survey 2012, a national study of people aged 20 to 65 in paid work, looked at the work they do and how working life has changed since the last survey in 2006.

In 2012 just under one third (31 per cent) of employees were anxious about unfair treatment at work, with just over half (51 per cent) reporting anxiety about a loss of status in their job.

The biggest concern was about pay reductions, followed by loss of control over their job. The proportion of employees who reported having a great deal or quite a lot of say over how their work was organised declined from 36 to 27 per cent between 2001 and 2012. This is despite the fact that “an important factor offsetting fear at work is the degree of participation allowed to employees with respect to organisational decisions”, according to the report’s authors.

People are also working harder. The report found that "work intensification", which was previously rife in the early 1990s, started to rise again in 2006, with both the speed of work and pressures of tight deadlines reaching record highs. Technological change was cited as a key factor in this.

For the first time since the survey was launched in 1986, public sector workers no longer feel more secure than those in the private sector. In addition to being worried about losing their job, they were found to be increasingly worried about loss of status and unfair treatment at work.

The survey also established that job-related well-being fell between 2006 and 2012 (measured by “enthusiasm” for and “contentment” with the job), with a notable rise in job stress and a fall in job satisfaction. There was a small drop in the average score on the “enthusiasm” scale, with a sharp fall recorded for the score on the “contentment” scale.The report authors say the falls can partly be accounted for by rising insecurity, work intensification and increased downsizing.

The Skills and Employment Survey is funded jointly by the Economic and Social Research Council and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills. Over 3,000 people took part in the 2012 survey.

To read the report, go to: www.cardiff.ac.uk/socsi/ses2012/