Based on rich narratives, our findings demonstrate grade variation as well as commonality in the breadth and kinds of stressors experienced and resources available to people in their working lives and outside paid employment and consider some of the meanings invested in them. Particular stressors deriving from the workplace can be more common in lower grades, performing new tasks without adequate training was experienced as stressful, for example, as were difficult relationships, communication problems, uncertainty about the future, dysfunctional work units, and feeling alienated from the working environment. Some potential difficulties were not necessarily viewed as a problem if they gained enjoyment from other aspects of the job. The most prominent feature of this grade group concerned the primacy of experiencing good social relations and friendly and supportive social ties at work and outside work. Changes in the social organisation of the workplace could result in negative effects on satisfaction and on mental health and well-being. Examples of particularly acute perceptions of powerlessness amongst lower grades were linked to, for example, an inability to settle a problem because help was not available, and feeling alienated from the work tasks and from colleagues.