Do causes and consequences of stress affect genders differently at operational level? Comparison of the IT sectors in the UK and Pakistan

The aim is examining the variation in causes and consequences of stress among contrasting gender in I.T sector of Karachi (Pakistan) and London (UK). The potential impact of stressors on the organisational commitment of employees are examined through self-constructed ‘stress model’. Through snowball and purposive sampling techniques, total 419 respondents (205 from Karachi and 214 from London) were targeted to attain quantitative perspective through on-line matrix based semi-structured survey questionnaire. Results showed that there is significant difference in causes of stress among contrasting gender. Moreover, male workers experience higher stress than females at operational level. Further, London workforce experience lower stress than Karachi workforce due to social support programme at workplace. There is significant variation in causes of stress as findings showed personal factors are leading stressors for females while organisational and environmental factors causes stress for males. Job demand, leadership, and economic uncertainty are negatively affecting male’s organisational commitment while family problems and personality clashes are affecting female’s organisational commitment in contrasting economies. The consequences of stress are similar for both types of employees however, males showed cognitive symptoms while females are more effectively using personal resources to over their stress and exhibit behavioural symptoms. Females have higher affective and normative commitment while males demonstrate normative commitment. Pakistan workforce demonstrated high level of stress than UK workforce.