Maybe if you’re asked - “what are the reasons why did you quit your job? You’ll answer - Low pay and stress.  In fact, stress is one of the main causes why Filipinos leave their job alongside other factors such as a bossy supervisor or manager, insecurity, non-stability and lousy pay. Stress pertains to the body’s response to threat or demand. Some jobs have low-stress levels compared to jobs known for high churn rate (attrition level).

No job is absolutely stress-free as everything faces challenges and demands for accuracy and efficient communication. And the stress level depends on the person’s training and skills.

What factors that affect work stress

• Career growth
• ​Change in residence
• Competition
• Exposure to chemical hazards
• ​Exposure to environmental hazards
• Physical demands
• Responsibility for someone’s life
• Risks of physical injury
• Tight deadlines
• Travel
• Working under public scrutiny

Though the perception of stress may be subjective and depend on every person These jobs are known for their low-stress levels compared to in high stress-category. 
 

ACTUARIAL

An actuary is a profession that deals with money and insurance. Here, you’ll use statistics and probability to help insurance companies predict business trends and stability. You’ll deal with mathematical concepts to calculate how much should be set aside to ensure that it will cover unforeseen events. For instance, if a client buys car insurance, he/she expects that the insurance company will pay for that accident or event. You may explore opportunities in finance, genetics, personal money planning, forex, healthcare and risk management. 

Where do they work?

• Insurance companies
• Banks
• Hospitals
• Social security systems of governments

What makes it less stressful

You don’t face physical risks and physically demanding tasks.

What are the cons

Some actuaries may face a level of stress than others such as their entry-level colleagues. You have to face mind-numbing math in finance, economics, mathematics and statistics. 

ARCHAEOLOGIST

You may have seen the movie “Indiana Jones” where “Indiana” a fictional professor who went to missions in recovering the lost ark and the holy grail. Well, that’s an example of an archaeologist - although you won’t exactly have the same lifestyle as Indiana. For this adventurous role, you’ll spend time analysing artefacts - human remains, potteries, weapons, coins, statues, and historical sites. Your analysis is important as it serves as evidence that humanity has a past ancestor who lived, thought, cried, loved and emoted.

Where will you work?

• Museum
• Universities
• Historical excavation sites
• Government agencies
• Law enforcement 

What makes it less stressful

Unless you’re trotting over remote and dangerous areas to find the lost ark Indiana Jones style, if you’re in a lab or inside the museum, you’ll face less danger and physical demand.

What are the cons

Being deployed far away from your family.

AUDIOLOGIST

An audiologist is a healthcare profession that is an expert in the study of hearing, related disorders and balance. So, you’re going to diagnose, evaluate and treat patients about their hearing loss,  hearing balance disorders and tinnitus. You may prescribe hearing aids, provide hearing-related rehabilitations such as speech reading, listening improvement and hearing improvement. You’ll recommend implants for the middle, bone-anchored, cochlear and auditory brainstem.

What makes it less stressful

Audiologists led the least stressful jobs in healthcare. The job involves less physical demands, less exposure to danger such as biohazards (bloodborne pathogens from body fluids) and hospital chemicals.

What are the cons

Dealing with patient complaints and if you’re in a less-funded government hospital, you may pay hearing-aids.

LIBRARIAN

Librarians are among the listed jobs as less stressful. It’s evident since you’re dealing with books, records, digital libraries, internet kiosks and electronic sources. You may be called as an information professional who helps people find info for personal, professional and business use. As a teacher, you’ll show users how to find a specific book through cataloguing systems such as Science, Filipiniana, and History. You may guide people on how to use an almanac, atlas, encyclopedia and dictionary.

What makes it less stressful

• You’re in control of your day and you’re not worrying about others' lives. 

• Daily, you’re arranging bookshelves and working from an environment will less demand for physical work.

What are the cons

• Long-exposure to video displays can cause eyestrain.

• Poor pay in some schools.

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & PROTECTION TECHNICIAN

If you’re an environmental advocate or like to see less pollution, then this job is for you. You’ll help the government and NGOs monitor the surroundings by performing field and lab tests. You may join a team of engineers, specialised scientists and other science disciplines investigate and solve environmental problems that affect wildlife and human health. A day in your life involves - performing data entry onto the computer, collecting water samples from waste-water, river, stream and sea; and setting up devices to monitor pollutants from factories and transports.

What makes it less stressful

• This offers an opportunity for fieldwork if you don’t like being confined inside 4 corners of an office or you get a chance of working both in-office and fields.

• You don’t deal with other people’s lives at stake or meeting tight deadlines.

What are the cons

• You might encounter toxic materials.
• You might work in extreme weather and outdoor conditions.

JEWELER

At this point, you’re in a business of making and selling jewelries - things made from precious stones and metal. Such precious stones include jade, diamond, garnet, aquamarine, sapphire, ruby,  amber, agate, alexandrite, diaspore, cavansite etc. Metals include gold, platinum, silver, iridium, rhodium, osmium and ruthenium. You source precious stones and metals and use your creativity to turn them into necklace, ring, bracelet and earrings. You’re an artisan who cuts and polish these gemstones or uses solder and torches to melt or shape metals. 

What makes it less stressful?

• If you’re a self-employed jeweller, you decide when and where you work. Even for full-time employers, they don’t face tight deadlines or extremely hazardous working conditions.

What are the cons

• Working with heating tools and toxic jewelry cleaning fluid but this can be replaced by ultrasonic cleaning machines.

MEDICAL RECORDS OFFICER

Medical Records Officer or Electronic Health Records Officer is a custodian of patients and health personnel’s files. In other words, you’re the master of keeping data safe from unauthorised access and supplying such records if a doctor or pharmacist requests for a patient's history. 

You’ll likely work in the hospital’s or clinic’s back office and use a computer to encode or retrieve medical records, manage patients list and present health protocols.

What makes it less stressful

• You deal with papers and their softcopies on the computer. In other words, you’re not involved in direct patient care, thus, you have less risk of exposure to biohazards and emotional or mental stress.

What are the cons

• You may deal with a demanding doctor or other medical staff.

• You’re responsible for the confidentiality of the records and if anything goes wrong beyond your control - that could be a mental and emotional burden.

MUSEUM CURATOR

Maybe you have already been inside a museum or a specialized museum of all sorts - whether it’s a museum of beer bottles or coins during the Spanish period. There’s a guy inside that serves as a tour guide for visitors or someone who secures artifacts. Now, if you’re in such a position, you’re in charge of exhibits and all the treasures worthy to your country’s heritage. A day in the life of this occupation makes up:

• Raise funds and grants
• Maintain records and catalogues of artifacts
• Collaborate with other organisations.
• Research and compile descriptions of artifacts
• Secure the museum and its artifacts
• Guide visitors
• Enforce museum rules

What makes it less stressful

• Basically, you’re dealing with things hundreds to thousands of years old - so there’s less exposure to mental and emotional stress brought by hazardous or radioactive chemicals unless your museum keeps samples from a nuclear disaster.

What are the cons

• Sudden stress because of stolen artifacts

• If the museum is haunted, then that will be a frightening experience.

STATISTICIAN

If you love crunching numbers and graphs, then statistics can be your calling. This job requires a knowledge of statistical science and math. Your role is to help people know - what is the city’s population, how many are men and women? How many people live in a household, are there more in favour of unemployment insurance? Such textual and numerical facts are useful for making decisions - whether it's for raising funds or providing social care. Regardless of your working environment - private or public, you’ll be collecting and analyzing data through surveys; identifying trends and advising organisations to come up with better decisions.

What makes it less stressful?

• A day in your life will be analyzing facts, data and graphs instead of worrying about tight deadlines and hazardous chemicals which frees you from emotional and nerve-wracking stress.

What are the cons

• Deployment to far places and surveying residential areas where you may encounter rude people.