In the past weeks alarming news items came up about the high suicide rate among France Telecom workers. The Unions blamed reorganisations and management methods, but the company claims the number of suicides is not higher than might be expected. The WHO figures mentioned in several online articles say the same: France Telecom employs just over 100,000 people in France. The French suicide rate is 26.4 a year for every 100,000 men and 9.2 per for every 100,000 women. On those figures, the company points out, the number of suicides in France Telecom since February 2008 is below the national average.

sources: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8252547.stm and http://www.nzherald.co.nz/technology/news/article.cfm?

Nevertheless countries worry about work-related suicide, especially in connection with the economic crisis. US Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries,August 2009: “Workplace suicides rose from 196 cases in 2007 to 251 cases in 2008, an increase of 28 percent and the highest number ever reported by the fatality census.” 

On the website Hazards Magizine, there is a special page gathering links and news about work and suicide http://www.hazards.org/suicide/

In Japan besides work-related suicide (karojisatsu) there is death by overwork (karoshi). Also here they see record numbers:

Japan: Record numbers worked to death
Record numbers of Japanese workers were worked to death last year, according to official compensation figures. A total of 269 cases qualified for state compensation last year, one up on the preceding year and a record high for the third straight year.
According to the Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry, among the cases approved for state compensation were 66 work-related suicides (karojisatsu) or attempted suicides. This was down 15 on the previous year, but was still the second highest ever annual toll, according to the ministry. Meanwhile, the deaths of 158 workers from brain or heart disease (karoshi) were recognised as caused by overwork in the reporting year, up 16.  Among the 66 suicides or attempted suicides, 24 were in their 50s, 15 in their 40s and 11 in their 30s.