Workers in small businesses tend to be less stressed than those who work for larger corporations, an industry expert has argued.

Ben Willmott, a spokesperson for the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said that people working in smaller companies tended to feel more of a connection with their employers and so not become so stressed.

"Our research into employee absence shows that stress is rated as a more significant cause of absences in larger organisations than smaller organisations," he explained.

"There are a number of factors that are mainly at play: small businesses may have a smaller ratio of managers to employees, so it may be easier to form close working relationships."

Mr Willmott added that some people expected workers at small businesses to be more stressed as they have access to fewer IT facilities. However, he explained that this was not the case.

Recent surveys show that small businesses in the UK are still not fully embracing the possibilities offered by new IT technologies or other internet options.

A recent Connect survey found that the two major concerns about outsourcing services like IT support were 'loss of control' (56 per cent) and 'budget over-runs' (43 per cent).