Third of those surveyed report burnout levels as 'high or extreme'
A new report from Ceridian says that a whopping 84 per cent of the 1,304 workers surveyed last month felt burned out over the last two years.
The human resources company says that report, conducted by Hanover Research, found that burnout is causing at least 20 per cent of those surveyed to seek new jobs.
34 per cent of the Canadians surveyed described their level of burnout as high or extreme.
“People are working insane hours,” says Ceridian’s VP of global talent acquisition, Steve Knox.
“We are all putting in that two or three hours of work extra every day and it's just causing people to really question everything and this war just continues to escalate day after day,” he says.
The Canadian Press reports that the figures were extrapolated from a global survey of 6,898 people employed in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Singapore.
Across all those surveyed, the burnout rate was around 81 per cent.
The survey was conducted among people working at companies with at least 100 employees.
Read more: 7 ways to avoid occupational burnout
Knox says that while people were burned out before the advent of COVID-19, the pandemic has exacerbated those feelings:
“You're always on, you're always available, you're always checking messages and there seems to be a lack of respect for the weekend,” says Know. “I don't think we saw that to the same degree prior to the pandemic.”
So what are the reasons for burnout among Canadians? Ceridian found that mental health challenges, lacking compensation and an increase in workload were top of mind.
Around 21 per cent of those surveyed said that the burnout was causing them to seek a new job, and 39 per cent said they would consider leaving their current for the right opportunity.
In addition, around 45 per cent of participants who reported looking for a new role said that it was because they wanted better compensation (including better benefits).
Knox says that those looking for new employment want employers to show “personal care and attention.”
He says that because of the pandemic, workers are caring for kids and, in some cases, elderly parents and finding it overwhelming. They want to find a workplace which offers a better work-life balance.
38 per cent of those surveyed said that they were on the lookout for a new due to a lack of growth opportunities.
In July 2021, the Ontario Medical Association (OMA) reported that burnout cases among the province’s doctors had increased this year – with the pandemic as a driving force for many. More than seven in 10 (72.9 per cent) of Ontario physicians experienced some level of burnout in 2021, up from 66 per cent in 2020.
