Friendly colleagues in the workplace could cut your risk of diabetes by A QUARTER Being overworked increases risk of getting condition Experts believe increasingly long working hours could cause a rise in type 2 diabetes cases in the future Report said best way to prevent disease in employees is for bosses to make them feel 'valued and supported' Having friendly colleagues can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to new research. Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel have found that people who work in a stressful job with unfriendly colleagues are more likely to develop the condition. They discovered that this applies even in workers who appear to be healthy. People who have a stressful job with unfriendly colleagues are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than those with friendly colleagues Science Daily reported that the research showed that people who have supportive colleagues are 22 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. They also found that people who think they are overworked or underworked have an 18 per cent higher chance of developing the condition. For the study, Dr Sharon Toker studied 5,843 people who visited a Tel Aviv Health Centre for a check-up. At the initial visit, all volunteers were healthy and had no signs of diabetes. Dr Toker followed these people for 41 months during which 182 of the participants developed type 2 diabetes. She compared the group's diabetes status to their reported working conditions and found that having supportive colleagues is a powerful protective influence. People who view themselves as either over-worked or under-worked also have an 18 per cent higher chance of developing the condition Dr Toker said that the findings suggest that employees who are putting in more and more hours, and who are expected to be constantly available, are being put at increased risk of the condition. However, she also noted that cutting people's workload is not necessarily the answer as people need to feel challenged to be happy in their job. In her view, the best way for employers to ensure that their staff are as well protected as possible from the condition is to make sure they receive support and feel valued.