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Occupational Stress Research

Training and Development Professionals: how stressful is the job?

Ranked #306 of 317 Australian occupations for workplace mental health hazards, with a composite stress score of 36/100. The biggest exposure is responsibility burden.

Composite stress score

36/100

National average: 47.4

Rank (most stressful)

#306 of 317

Australian ANZSCO occupations

More stress-exposed than

3.5% of occupations

By composite stress score

Quick answer: Training and Development Professionals are less stress-exposed than most Australian occupations — ranked #306 of 317 by workplace mental health hazard exposure, with a composite stress score of 36/100 against a national average of 47.4.

Training and Development Professionals stress profile vs the national average

Each occupation is scored across six categories of workplace mental health hazard, built from 22 stress factors identified in SafeWork Australia's occupational hazards data. Higher scores mean greater exposure.

Emotional demands36.6 vs 37.9 avg
Responsibility burden50.1 vs 60 avg
Pace and demands46.6 vs 56 avg
Lack of control17.4 vs 24.5 avg
Precision and monotony44 vs 67.7 avg
Physical environment21.6 vs 38.2 avg

Scores range 0–100; higher = more stress-inducing. Source: SafeWork Australia Beta Occupational Hazards Dataset.

What drives the score for training and development professionals

The occupation scores below the national average for precision and monotony (44 vs 67.7), physical environment (21.6 vs 38.2) and responsibility burden (50.1 vs 60), which moderates the overall ranking.

See how this compares across all 317 Australian occupations, ranked by stress score.

The biggest stress factors for training and development professionals

  1. 1Pace and demands

    Duration of Typical Work Week

    69.5/100

    All-occupation average: 62.1

  2. 2Pace and demands

    Time Pressure

    67.5/100

    All-occupation average: 71.6

  3. 3Responsibility burden

    Coordinate or Lead Others

    66.2/100

    All-occupation average: 64.9

  4. 4Responsibility burden

    Responsibility for Outcomes and Results

    58.8/100

    All-occupation average: 58.5

  5. 5Physical environment

    Physical Proximity

    58.8/100

    All-occupation average: 61.1

All 22 stress factors for training and development professionals

The complete scorecard: every stress factor measured for this occupation, grouped into the six categories, with the all-occupation average alongside.

Emotional demands

36.6 vs 37.9 avg
  • Deal With Physically Aggressive People13 vs 14
  • Deal With Unpleasant or Angry People41.2 vs 50.4
  • Frequency of Conflict Situations55.5 vs 49.3

Responsibility burden

50.1 vs 60 avg
  • Responsibility for Outcomes and Results58.8 vs 58.5
  • Responsible for Others' Health and Safety45.5 vs 57.3
  • Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results54.2 vs 70.4
  • Consequence of Error26 vs 49
  • Coordinate or Lead Others66.2 vs 64.9

Pace and demands

46.6 vs 56 avg
  • Time Pressure67.5 vs 71.6
  • Duration of Typical Work Week69.5 vs 62.1
  • Pace Determined by Speed of Equipment2.2 vs 23.1
  • Frequency of Decision Making51.2 vs 70.7
  • Level of Competition42.5 vs 52.4

Lack of control

17.4 vs 24.5 avg
  • Lack of Autonomy to Make Decisions16.2 vs 23.6
  • Amount of Highly Structured Work18.5 vs 25.3

Precision and monotony

44 vs 67.7 avg
  • Importance of Repeating Same Tasks38 vs 56.9
  • Importance of Being Exact or Accurate50 vs 78.6

Physical environment

21.6 vs 38.2 avg
  • Sounds and Noise Levels Are Distracting or Uncomfortable25 vs 52.3
  • Extremely Bright or Inadequate Lighting8.8 vs 24.9
  • Very Hot or Cold Temperatures6.5 vs 32.4
  • Exposed to Disease or Infections8.8 vs 20.2
  • Physical Proximity58.8 vs 61.1

Methodology

Clearhead scored 317 occupations in the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO) using SafeWork Australia's Beta Occupational Hazards Dataset. We kept only the 22 hazard variables relating to mental health — such as conflict exposure, decision-making pressure, and time pressure — and deliberately excluded physical safety risks like working at height.

The 22 variables are grouped into six categories: emotional demands, responsibility burden, pace and demands, lack of control, precision and monotony, and physical environment. An occupation's composite score is the equally weighted average of its six category scores. All scores run 0–100, where higher means more stress-inducing.

Two control-related variables are reported by SafeWork with inverted polarity (“freedom to make decisions” and “structured versus unstructured work”). We reverse these and present them as lack of autonomy to make decisions and amount of highly structured work, so that a higher score consistently indicates greater stress exposure.

Hazard exposure describes the average conditions of an occupation, not any individual's experience — everyone has a different tolerance for these challenges, and conditions vary between workplaces.

Frequently asked questions

Training and Development Professionals: how stressful is the job?

Training and Development Professionals rank #306 out of 317 Australian occupations for workplace mental health hazards, with a composite stress score of 36/100 against a national average of 47.4. That makes the occupation more stress-exposed than 3.5% of Australian jobs.

What are the biggest mental health stress factors for training and development professionals?

The highest-scoring hazards are duration of typical work week (69.5/100), time pressure (67.5/100) and coordinate or lead others (66.2/100).

Which stress factors are lower for training and development professionals?

Training and Development Professionals score below the national average for emotional demands (36.6 vs 37.9 average) and responsibility burden (50.1 vs 60 average) and pace and demands (46.6 vs 56 average) and lack of control (17.4 vs 24.5 average) and precision and monotony (44 vs 67.7 average) and physical environment (21.6 vs 38.2 average), which partially offsets the higher-scoring hazards.

Where does this data come from?

Scores are derived from SafeWork Australia's Beta Occupational Hazards Dataset. Clearhead filtered the dataset to the 22 mental-health-related hazard variables — excluding physical safety risks — and scored 317 ANZSCO occupations across six categories: emotional demands, responsibility burden, pace and demands, lack of control, precision and monotony, and physical environment.

Beyond the average

This is the average hazard exposure for training and development professionals. Your workforce isn't average.

Clearhead's Psychosocial Risk Pulse measures the actual psychosocial risk in your organisation, quarterly — across 18 ISO 45003-aligned work factors.

Clearhead Psychosocial Risk Pulse Tool

Know your industry's risks. Then measure your own.

Population-level data shows where the hazards concentrate — but psychosocial risk legislation requires you to identify and manage the risks in your own workforce. Clearhead's Psychosocial Risk Pulse gives you that evidence, quarterly.

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