Customer Harassment Experience High Among 'Men in Their 40s and Managers': Results Suggest Link to Lowered Productivity, High Stress, and Poor Sleep Recovery
Pasona Safety Net announced survey results showing that men in their 40s and managers experience higher rates of customer harassment. This is linked to reduced productivity, high stress, and impaired sleep recovery, highlighting significant mental health impacts on management.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 23, 2026 at 21:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 23, 2026 at 12:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 24, 2026 at 00:21 (11h 50m after Collected)
Pasona Safety Net Inc. (Headquarters: Tokyo, Representative Director: Tatsuya Niimura) has conducted a second analysis on the relationship between customer harassment experience rates by gender, age group, and job title, and its association with productivity (SPQ), the ratio of highly stressed individuals, feeling of rest from sleep, and work engagement. This follows their initial report announced in December 2025, "Analysis of Customer Harassment Experience Rates and Psychological Stress Responses by Industry (Part 1)".
As a result, a relatively high tendency of customer harassment experience rates was confirmed among men in their 40s and the management tier.
Furthermore, the results suggested that experiencing customer harassment is potentially associated not only with an increase in psychological stress responses but also with a decline in productivity, high stress conditions, and a reduced feeling of recovery from sleep.
In particular, among the management tier, it was shown that while the impact of customer harassment may not easily manifest as a decline in work engagement, it likely affects mental health aspects such as psychological stress responses and the feeling of recovery through sleep.
Survey Overview
Target:
251 organizations and 78,513 individuals who took the (new) Brief Job Stress Questionnaire provided by Pasona Safety Net between May and October 2025.
Evaluation Method for Customer Harassment Experience:
The presence or absence of experiences of abusive language, threats, coercive behavior, excessive demands, etc., from customers, business partners, or users in the past 6 months.
Outcome Indicators:
Psychological stress response, productivity (SPQ), percentage of highly stressed individuals, feeling of rest from sleep, work engagement.
Key Finding 1: By gender and age, "Men in their 40s" show the highest rate of customer harassment experience.
An analysis by gender and age group showed that men in their 40s had the highest rate of experiencing customer harassment. A possible reason is that many men in their 40s are in management positions, making them more likely to be the final responders to complaints.
[Chart 1]
Key Finding 2: Managers, both male and female, tend to have a high rate of customer harassment experience.
Comparing by job title, it was confirmed that managers of both genders tend to have a higher rate of customer harassment experience than general employees. The background may be that the unique role of a manager—handling customer interactions on behalf of subordinates after escalation or dealing with customers as a representative of the organization—is required regardless of gender.
[Chart 2]
Key Finding 3: The relationship between customer harassment experience and outcomes tends to differ between general employees and managers.
When comparing the relationship between customer harassment experience and outcomes between general employees and managers, psychological stress responses tended to be higher in the "experienced" group across all job titles. Work engagement also tended to be lower in the "experienced" group across all job titles.
However, a characteristic feature was that the difference in work engagement caused by the presence or absence of customer harassment experience was smaller among managers compared to general employees. This result suggests that for managers, the impact of customer harassment may be less likely to surface as a decline in work engagement.
[Chart 3]
Key Finding 4: Customer harassment experience is associated with a decline in productivity (SPQ).
As a result of analyzing the relationship with productivity (SPQ), it was confirmed that workers who have experienced customer harassment, both general employees and managers, tend to have lower productivity scores.
This result indicates that customer harassment may affect not only psychological aspects but also productivity, such as task execution and concentration.
[Chart 4]
Key Finding 5: Among managers, there is a possibility of high stress conditions and hindered recovery from stress through sleep.
An analysis of the relationship with the ratio of highly stressed individuals confirmed that the proportion of highly stressed individuals tends to be higher among those who have experienced customer harassment, for both general employees and managers.
Furthermore, regarding the relationship with the feeling of rest from sleep, the percentage of respondents answering "I am able to recover sufficiently through sleep" tended to be lower among those who had experienced customer harassment, for both general employees and managers.
Notably, among managers, the difference in the percentage of those answering "I am able to recover sufficiently through sleep" between those with and without customer harassment experience was even greater.
This result suggests that for managers, the impact of customer harassment may extend into the process of recovering from stress.
[Chart 5]
From this analysis, it is evident that customer harassment is a structural workplace issue that extends not only to specific frontline staff but also to the management tier. In particular, for the management tier—who are thought to frequently handle customer harassment—even when their work engagement appears to be maintained, impacts may be occurring in the form of reduced productivity and hindered recovery through sleep.
As a result, a relatively high tendency of customer harassment experience rates was confirmed among men in their 40s and the management tier.
Furthermore, the results suggested that experiencing customer harassment is potentially associated not only with an increase in psychological stress responses but also with a decline in productivity, high stress conditions, and a reduced feeling of recovery from sleep.
In particular, among the management tier, it was shown that while the impact of customer harassment may not easily manifest as a decline in work engagement, it likely affects mental health aspects such as psychological stress responses and the feeling of recovery through sleep.
Survey Overview
Target:
251 organizations and 78,513 individuals who took the (new) Brief Job Stress Questionnaire provided by Pasona Safety Net between May and October 2025.
Evaluation Method for Customer Harassment Experience:
The presence or absence of experiences of abusive language, threats, coercive behavior, excessive demands, etc., from customers, business partners, or users in the past 6 months.
Outcome Indicators:
Psychological stress response, productivity (SPQ), percentage of highly stressed individuals, feeling of rest from sleep, work engagement.
Key Finding 1: By gender and age, "Men in their 40s" show the highest rate of customer harassment experience.
An analysis by gender and age group showed that men in their 40s had the highest rate of experiencing customer harassment. A possible reason is that many men in their 40s are in management positions, making them more likely to be the final responders to complaints.
[Chart 1]
Key Finding 2: Managers, both male and female, tend to have a high rate of customer harassment experience.
Comparing by job title, it was confirmed that managers of both genders tend to have a higher rate of customer harassment experience than general employees. The background may be that the unique role of a manager—handling customer interactions on behalf of subordinates after escalation or dealing with customers as a representative of the organization—is required regardless of gender.
[Chart 2]
Key Finding 3: The relationship between customer harassment experience and outcomes tends to differ between general employees and managers.
When comparing the relationship between customer harassment experience and outcomes between general employees and managers, psychological stress responses tended to be higher in the "experienced" group across all job titles. Work engagement also tended to be lower in the "experienced" group across all job titles.
However, a characteristic feature was that the difference in work engagement caused by the presence or absence of customer harassment experience was smaller among managers compared to general employees. This result suggests that for managers, the impact of customer harassment may be less likely to surface as a decline in work engagement.
[Chart 3]
Key Finding 4: Customer harassment experience is associated with a decline in productivity (SPQ).
As a result of analyzing the relationship with productivity (SPQ), it was confirmed that workers who have experienced customer harassment, both general employees and managers, tend to have lower productivity scores.
This result indicates that customer harassment may affect not only psychological aspects but also productivity, such as task execution and concentration.
[Chart 4]
Key Finding 5: Among managers, there is a possibility of high stress conditions and hindered recovery from stress through sleep.
An analysis of the relationship with the ratio of highly stressed individuals confirmed that the proportion of highly stressed individuals tends to be higher among those who have experienced customer harassment, for both general employees and managers.
Furthermore, regarding the relationship with the feeling of rest from sleep, the percentage of respondents answering "I am able to recover sufficiently through sleep" tended to be lower among those who had experienced customer harassment, for both general employees and managers.
Notably, among managers, the difference in the percentage of those answering "I am able to recover sufficiently through sleep" between those with and without customer harassment experience was even greater.
This result suggests that for managers, the impact of customer harassment may extend into the process of recovering from stress.
[Chart 5]
From this analysis, it is evident that customer harassment is a structural workplace issue that extends not only to specific frontline staff but also to the management tier. In particular, for the management tier—who are thought to frequently handle customer harassment—even when their work engagement appears to be maintained, impacts may be occurring in the form of reduced productivity and hindered recovery through sleep.