Burnout at work: what causes it and how to deal with it

A recent study on the subject, conducted in the United States, Japan and several European countries, revealed a frightening figure: more than 40% of people working at a computer feel burned out at work. Western researchers associated such an impressive percentage with the “economic crisis and the need to return from remote work to the office,” which “puts pressure on people.” The survey was published by Bloomberg.

The study notes that, for example, the level of burnout is affected by the work schedule – whether it is flexible or not. More than half of those dissatisfied with their work schedules described themselves as “burnt out.” Those who have the opportunity to choose their working hours are more likely to work more efficiently.

And what about the mood of the working people in Russia?

“A survey conducted by our partner in 2022 showed that among Russians there are even more burnt out people than abroad: more than half of the respondents (54%) admitted this,” Maria Ignatova, head of research at hh. – Half of them cited busy schedules and overwork as the top contributors to “loss of motivation and emotional fatigue.” Most of these workers live in the Novosibirsk and Moscow regions, St. Petersburg, Moscow and the Krasnodar Territory.

According to another survey, 81% of companies cited burnout as a factor that negatively affects business productivity. Therefore, you should pay attention to it. At the same time, only 39% of employers take measures: 22% arrange team building for joint recreation, 9% provide additional days for vacation, 8% conduct coaching sessions to work with the emotional state.

“This trend really exists now,” career consultant and psychologist Svetlana Lenkova told MK. – Emotional professional burnout has become more common. One of the reasons is that people are taught from childhood that a person is worth something only when he achieves professional success. And for him it becomes a blow, a shock that he did not live up to expectations, did not cope with the tasks set in the working sphere.

In Japan, for example, back in 1990, the Ministry of Labor put forward the slogan: “To live only by work is dangerous to health.” In the field of combating burnout, Japan is generally “ahead of the rest”; they, for example, have a very developed network of centers for psychological assistance to workaholics. The Japanese consider workaholism to be a very serious disease that can be fatal.

If a person is busy only with work, other areas of his life suffer. There are problems with health, sleep, he becomes irritable, family conflicts become more frequent, the circle of communication narrows, sexual disorders may occur … All this ultimately leads to internal discomfort and burnout.

– I would not directly connect the return from remote work and professional burnout, – Alexander Dubovik, an expert in the field of personnel development, shared with MK. – Burnout is something else.

Behind any human activity is motivation, whether we realize why we do something or not. And going to work is not always a “money trip”. Work requires effort, energy and time, but it always has something that fills us, makes us happy, for which we go there.

As long as the balance is positive and there is more energy accumulated than spent, everything is fine. But as soon as the costs exceed the return, burnout occurs. At some point, it seems that by increasing the amount of work, you can return the “joy”, but it only gets worse …

We have always been taught that a career is a ladder. And then there is another option for burnout. There are professions where there is no such ladder. Teachers, doctors, journalists. The chief physician is not a doctor’s career, it is an administrator’s career, just like the editor-in-chief. At some point, a person gets the feeling that everything has already been done in this life, and there will be nothing new. Recoil ceases to cover the effort invested. Someone manages to solve the problem of burnout by participating in professional competitions, doing science, teaching. But in general, for such professions, the chance of burnout is very high.

At some point, it begins to seem to a person that if you leave the company, the system, the environment and become a “free artist”, then everything will work out. But few dare to do so. When you get used to receiving a stable amount on the card twice a month for years, it is very difficult to decide to leave. And a long stay in an unrealized dream is a direct path to burnout.

As for remote work, how it affected the growth in the number of burnt out employees … People were given a piece of freedom within the corporation. They finally let them feel that they were not downtrodden horses, and then they wanted to take this freedom away. The feeling of losing what was “good, convenient, comfortable” probably also leads to burnout.

– How can a person avoid burnout, how to cope with it?

– We are not always able to create a 100% replenishment of the expended energy in our work. As they say: “He devoted himself entirely to work, and the work ceased to please him.” Question: why did he devote “all of himself”?

Of course, the employer requires this from you, but a person must have several “legs” on which he stands. And work is one of them. He must have other areas that occupy no less space than work, where he is emotionally replenished. For some, this is a loved one, family, children, parents, someone has a favorite hobby, sports, volunteering, etc.