Companies struggle with mass burnout
The Future. After a hard year, a record number of employees are reporting feelings of burnout… and the phenomenon is on employers’ radars. Many are instituting measures to help employees cope and recharge, including adding PTO and limiting Zoom meetings… but it may take an entire redesign of the idea of the workweek and a resetting of work boundaries to make a meaningful difference.
Mind out of time
COVID, economic recession, a heated political climate, the scourge of endless Zoom meetings, and feelings of never being off the clock… no wonder employees are burnt out.
According to a survey from Insider, 60% of respondents said they were experiencing burnout.
One-third reported a lack of boundaries between work and personal life.
This was especially true of workers on the lower end of the corporate totem pole.
And it’s not like employers don’t care. A McKinsey report found that 80% were concerned about employee mental health, while 66% found that they were concerned about employee substance-abuse disorders in order to cope.
But the problem is more work-focused than just a general feeling of being overwhelmed.
The employees that Insider surveyed said “their workloads and goals were too ambitious to afford taking vacation, that their managers set an unhealthy example by working long hours, that they felt disengaged because their colleagues talked to them disrespectfully, and that mental health was seen as a nice-to-have rather than a business imperative.”
Corporate chill
So what are employers doing to turn down the temperature?
Bank of America upped bonuses for analysts.
Citi instituted “Zoom-free” Fridays.
Bumble just gave all of its employees the week off.
And several companies have started offering subscriptions to meditation apps and more PTO.
And in the most radical move, Kickstarter is testing out a four-day work week… without reducing salaries. The experiment is part of a larger movement called the “4 Day Workweek” campaign,” which hopes to normalize a shorter work schedule without losing productivity.