The new normal: Over a third of Americans battle job burnout every single week


  • Survey of 2,000 working adults finds that nearly three in five employees feel burnt out on the job at least once a month.
  • On the other hand, only 12% of Americans have never experienced stress and mental exhaustion in their profession.

LOS ANGELES — The World Health Organization recently recognized occupational burnout as a legitimate health syndrome. While that may sound a bit excessive at first glance, consider the results of a recent survey involving 2,000 working Americans: A shocking 36% of respondents reported dealing with feelings of on-the-job burnout every single week. Another 56% say they get burnt out on on the job at least once per month.

On the other hand, if stress and exhaustion isn’t gripping you mentally and physically at your desk, sadly you’re in a small minority. Only 12% of surveyed employees say they have never felt burnt out while working in their current position.

Conducted by telecommunications company TollFreeForwarding.com, the survey also revealed that roughly four in 10 employees deal with weekly health issues brought on by job-induced burnout. More specifically, 40% suffer from anxiety regularly, 44% report feeling exhausted on a weekly basis, and 56% say that intense feelings of stress have become part of their weekly routine.

All of that burnout is creeping into other areas of people’s lives as well, with 54% of respondents saying their sleep patterns have suffered due to burnout, 44% say their work / life balance has been impacted, 37% have become less ambitious in their career motivations, and 36% have seen their overall productivity drop.

It isn’t just the employees who are paying for all this burnout, either. Sick days and loss of personnel is also costing many U.S. businesses. In all, 34% of respondents say they take a day off at least every six months due to burnout, and nearly half (48%) say they their job satisfaction has taken a blow due to burnout. In fact, over half of respondents (55%) have already considered leaving their job due to a perceived lack of support regarding burnout, stress, etc.

It seems many employees feel like their employers aren’t doing enough; 50% of respondents say the companies they work for need to do more to curb employee burnout. Another two-thirds (67%) are worried what all of that stress, anxiety, and exhaustion is going to do their bodies in the long-term.

“Burnout is now officially recognized as an illness, so we thought now was a good time to help uncover more about how employees are feeling in their workplace, and how much support they feel they’re getting,” comments COO of TollFreeForwarding.com James O’Brien in a statement. “Awareness of overworking, and the health problems this can cause, is increasing. Here however, we’ve discovered there is much work to be done. What businesses must recognize is that not addressing burnout is not only bad for health reasons, it’s also bad for business.”

Among the survey’s other findings was that healthcare workers are experiencing burnout symptoms at greater rates than any other profession. Furthermore, it’s clear from the survey’s findings that modern businesses and organizations need to address employee burnout in a proactive, not reactive, manner. For example, a “high-pressure working environment” was the most often-cited reason given by respondents for burnout (44%), followed by “lack of support or communication from management” (38%).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *