Exploring stress factors in the PR industry - a survey from Prowly

31 May 2024

Working in public relations is consistently ranked among the most stressful professions. The combination of client management, media relations, crisis handling, and the need to multitask under pressure creates a high-stress environment. So, it comes as no surprise that in a survey done by Prowly, 92% of respondents agreed that work-related stress has had a negative impact on their mental health.

The survey conducted in May 2024 gathered information from 162 PR professionals, which included individuals from agencies, internal teams, and independent contractors, who provided insights into their respective work environments. All groups face substantial stress, with slight differences in responses between genders and work settings. Understanding their specific stressors could help in developing more efficient stress management strategies.

Frequency of stress

Respondents often feel stressed at work, with the most common response indicating stress several times a week (38%). Women, especially freelancers, report stress more frequently. Almost half of the female freelancers say they feel stressed every day, while only a third of male freelancers say the same.

Few other industries are as fast-paced as the media, and the constant connectivity further accelerates this dynamic. So much of our work in PR depends on other people – mainly journalists – so our lifestyle reflects theirs. The workday may end, but work never stops in my head. On top of that, I can spend hours researching and pitching, but that doesn’t guarantee my story gets coverage. It takes a toll on my mental health. But then something great happens, we get that dopamine hit, and get back to it the next day.

Corina Leslie, PR Manager at ZeroBounce

Top three overwhelming tasks

61% of all respondents said predicting outcomes was the most stressful part of their job. It was followed by securing media coverage, and reporting to prove PR value.

However, some unique difficulties were highlighted. Female PR professionals listed "showing and proving PR value" in their top 3 challenges. This task didn't appear in the top 3 for male PR pros. Instead, they chose "handling social media" as a challenge.

Professionals in agencies are mainly stressed with forecasting results. For PR staff inside organizations, creating innovative campaigns is a major source of stress, which isn't a top concern for agency or freelance workers.

What could make the PR industry less stressful?

Nearly half of respondents said hiring more specialists and increased budgets would reduce job stress. Open communication and media education with clients and stakeholders were seen as key to improving the PR work environment by 43% of people. For PR freelancers, creating more communities was the second most popular solution.

Prowly is a SaaS platform that helps public relations professionals save time on everyday tasks, reach more journalists and report on brand performance. For the past 10 years, this PR tool has been used by over 7,000 customers from more than 70 countries. Prowly was acquired by Semrush, a leading online visibility management SaaS platform in 2020.