Burnout Is Killing Productivity

A recent survey of nearly 13,000 frontline employees and managers in 11 countries, including the UK, US, Australia, France and Germany by UKG, found that 83% of Gen Z frontline employees are experiencing burnout, a figure notably higher than the 75% rate reported by frontline employees overall.

Burnout is becoming a serious problem for employers.  It’s affecting all employees, across generations, and it’s increasing.  Those affected include Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964, Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) and Gen Z (those born between the mid-to-late 1990s and early 2010s).

It’s causing a staggering 150% loss in productive days, particularly amongst Gen Z and Millennials, and the decrease in production and burnout reportedly costs the British economy $176 billion annually.  Baby Boomers are also being affected at high rates, and the figures and costs are similar for the USA and Canada.

 

What is burnout?

Burnout is a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion that’s caused by prolonged stress.  It’s often associated with the workplace, but can also be caused by other types of stress.  Symptoms of burnout include:

  • Feeling drained and exhausted
  • Having trouble focusing
  • Feeling cynical or negative about your job
  • Having trouble sleeping
  • Having headaches
  • Having muscle or joint pain
  • Having gastrointestinal issues
  • Feeling disconnected from your work or coworkers
  • Feeling hopeless or resentful
  • Having a hard time finding meaning in activities you normally enjoy

Burnout is not considered a medical condition, but rather an occupational phenomenon.  It was coined in 1974 by American psychologist Herbert Freudenberger.

Another survey by Canadian business consultants Robert Half, found that millennials experienced the highest levels of burnout at 55%, followed closely by Gen Z at 51%, compared to Gen X at 32% and baby boomers at 24%.  The survey concluded that Canadian professionals are feeling more burnt out than they did in 2023, with heavy workloads and understaffed teams driving work pressures, with 42% of workers reporting feeling burnt out in 2024, an increase from 33% in 2023.

The UKG survey also found that nearly three-quarters (72%) of Gen Z respondents said interactions with people at work have worsened their mental health, compared to 62% of all frontline employees, and 71% of Gen Z workers said they may quit because of negative interactions with their colleagues or customers.  Additionally, 61% of Gen-Zers said they aren’t satisfied with their overall employee experience, versus 55% across all generations.

Another recent employee analysis by Vitality, a health and life insurer, also found that millennial and Gen Z workers are suffering in the workplace due to mental health issues and burnout.  Their study surveyed 4,000 British workers and examined productivity levels based on sick days used, access to employer support, and mental health conditions like depression.  The study showed that workers making less than $38,000 USD annually were more prone to depression, burnout, and lack of productivity.  While physical health struggles led to a 54% productivity dip, mental health issues hit harder.

Mindy Shoss, Ph.D., professor of psychology at the University of Central Florida and associate editor of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, says, “There are many potential causes of burnout in today’s workplaces, including excessive workloads, low levels of support, having little say or control over workplace matters, lack of recognition or rewards for one’s efforts, and interpersonally toxic and unfair work environments.”

Oak Engage commissioned a survey of over 1,000 employees to understand the differences between Gen Z and Millennials at work.  (Full report here.)  Their survey found that:

  • almost 60% of Gen Z and Millennial employees would consider quitting if a better workplace culture is available.
  • 59% of employees are not willing to go above and beyond for their employer
  • 50% of employees have felt overwhelmed by information at work and have suffered from burnout.
  • 47% of employees believe that a generational divide in the workplace leads to miscommunication
  • 41% say that it is due to differences in work ethic
  • 37% of both Gen Z and Millennial employees have engaged in quiet quitting at their job

The Oak Engage survey found that Gen Z and Millennials have different priorities when it comes to what they need from an employer.  While Gen Z prioritizes career progression, Millennials are more driven by salary.

To complicate things, Gen Zers aren’t even interested in assuming managerial roles.  According to Ankit Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Unstop, GenZ professionals prefer to not manage and instead, want to focus on developing their skills and doing their work to the best of their ability.  They’re also finding themselves FTMO (forced to miss out) on things like social or life events.  Birthday celebrations, drinks with friends, trips with loved ones, and holiday dinners and gift exchanges are basically out of the question because they’re living paycheck

to paycheck.  According to a survey by banking platform Chime, in the six months preceding December 2024, over 50% of Millennials and Gen Z have missed out on something they wanted or needed because they were waiting for their next paycheck.

All of this culminates in a near-perfect storm.  More and more employees:

  • are experiencing increasingly poor mental health,
  • are planning to quit,
  • are taking tons of sick days,
  • have low work ethic,
  • demonstrate little company loyalty,
  • are reducing their productivity by intent or by their absence,
  • don’t want any managerial responsibilities,
  • lack the desired or needed support, recognition, and rewards,
  • receive poor or inadequate communication,
  • are suffering heavy workloads,
  • are understaffed,
  • have a dissatisfying work-life balance
  • can’t get ahead because they live paycheck-to-paycheck

Thus, the high rates of burnout being reported shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

The solutions to this are multifaced and not entirely within an individual’s control.  If you think that you’re experiencing burnout the first thing to do is to ascertain if you’re actually experiencing burnout or if you’re just very stressed.  Burnout and stress are not the same things.

There are a number of assessments available to help individuals determine if they’re experiencing burnout.  Both free and for-purchase options exist.

Free Burnout Tests:

 

Burnout Assessment Tool – The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT) is a new self-report questionnaire to measure burnout.  The BAT was developed using a combination of a deductive (theoretical) and an inductive (empirical) approach. Theoretically, burnout is seen as a state of mental exhaustion that manifests itself as both the inability and unwillingness to spend effort at work. Both are two sides of the same coin; on the one hand the inability to carry out one’s work properly because of chronic fatigue (“I can no longer do my job”), and on the other hand the unwillingness to perform because of mental distance towards one’s job (“I do not want to do my job anymore”).

Two-Minute Burnout Checkup – The two-minute activity is simply meant to give you a rough and subjective lay of the land and when you do it on a regular basis, a trend line for how you’re feeling at a point in time and whether you’re heading in the right direction.

Burnout Test – This test can help you determine if you’re showing signs of burnout.

Burnout Risk Assessment – Take the Burnout Risk Assessment to see if you’re on the fast track to burnout and learn what you can do to avoid or heal yourself from the psychological hazards of work.

Burnout Assessment Questionnaire – This quiz is for informational and educational purposes only. Only a therapist or medical doctor can reliably diagnose burnout. If you feel that stress or anxiety is affecting your life, we recommend seeking advice from a health care professional.

Self Burnout Test – A simple quiz.

Free Burnout Assessment Tool For Organizations & Individuals – Whether you are looking for an effective tool for measuring your personal burnout risk or within your corporate, non-profit, or faith-based organization, the Burnout Assessment provides an effective tool. This robust assessment is evidence-based, encompasses a vast body of research, and helps identify a burnout experience.

Note: Free tests are often not statistically validated or reliable.  The titles above are not a substitute for more robust instruments or a diagnosis by professional therapists or medical personnel.

Burnout Assessments For Purchase:

 

Maslach Burnout Inventory – Recognized as the leading measure of burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory™ (MBI) is validated by the extensive research that has been conducted in the more than 35 years since its initial publication.

Burnout Symptom Screener – For service and non-service fields.  The Service version will assess whether a person working in the service industry is at risk of developing burnout. The Non-Service version will assess whether a person is at risk of developing burnout. This test is designed for people in industries other than service.

In addition to the titles above, there are tons of other tools designed to help address communication, teams, to resolve conflict, help managers ‘see’ how they’re perceived by others, as well as, tools that can help people gain insights into themselves, their skills, and developmental needs.

As we always say, “There’s a test for that!” and these days, there really is.  If you or those in your organization are struggling with issues like burnout, poor management, job satisfaction, stress, or something else – call us and let us help, because more often than not, there’s a test for that!

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References:

 

David Towler is President of Creative Organizational Design, a firm offering nearly 50 years of expertise specializing in employee assessments and has over 5000 different tests available. Creative Organizational Design has assessments designed to help employers screen out other people’s rejects, assess skills, aptitudes, attitudes, and ‘fit’ within an organization.  For more information about the many options available and to obtain expert help in selecting the best tools for your needs please contact us because no matter what personnel challenges you’re facing – there’s a test for that!  Please send comments about this article to dtowler@creativeorgdesign.com.

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