A new rise in burnout cases brings concern among employers and employees.
At the beginning of the pandemic, most people experienced burnout and anxiety. The rapid global change and different individual routines, combined with workload and restrictions, caused concern to most people.
Numbers were expected to go down after COVID restrictions became lighter. Instead, research shows the opposite. According to Slack’s Future Forum‘s latest quarterly survey, over 43% of US exployees experienced burned out at work. Furthermore, Glassdoor released another report where employees anonymously review their companies and workloads. According to these data, the rise in burnout cases increased over 40% compared to 2019. Finally, the HR business think tank Conference Board’s survey reported that 77% of companies with growing burnout cases – up to 30% since September 2020.
This new rise in burnout shows one of the downsides of remote work. As Future Forum vice president Sheela Subramanian said: “Executives want to return to how things used to be. These leaders think a return to the office will increase productivity, maintain the culture, and foster connections. Meanwhile, they’re not listening to their workers, who have been reporting higher levels of productivity, improved culture, and better connections at work while working from home.”
As burnout is now an official syndrome, new initiatives have popped up to support remote workers. This rise in burnout cases reveals the importance of finding new strategies and work arrangements to ensure employees’ well-being.
