Report: Burnout is on the rise amid “great resignation”

Amid what’s been hailed as the “great resignation,” with employees leaving their jobs at record numbers, burnout is on the rise within the ranks of those who remain—a signal that the employment crisis could deepen for public employers. 

In a report published this month by MissionSquare Research Institute, almost four out of five survey respondents said their jobs have become more stressful due to recent departures of colleagues from their workplaces. The findings (titled “Continued Impact of COVID-19 on Public Sector Employee Job and Financial Outlook, Satisfaction and Retention”) are an update to a previous report released in January. 

“The double whammy of COVID-19 and the ‘great resignation’ clearly is putting additional strain on an already beleaguered public sector workforce,” said Rivka Liss-Levinson, Ph. D, lead author of the report. Stressed, anxious and fatigued—around 40 percent of respondents reported at least one of these burnout symptoms. Compiling workplace-related stressors, nearly a quarter of public sector employees reported they’ve taken on debt since the pandemic began, and almost half said the pandemic has “created tension in how the public (or in the case of K-12 employees, students’ parents) interact with them,” according to a statement about the findings. 

Notably, the report found 70 percent of workers had returned to the office full time, in comparison to 26 percent in a study conducted in May 2020. 

With this, between the pandemic and increased workload, burnout has been a major factor driving a mass exodus of laborers across all sectors; and each difficulty builds atop the other. With less people in the office, more of the workload is placed on those remaining, prompting them to seek less stressful jobs. More than half of those surveyed (who are notably still working in the public service industry) reported they’re considering leaving voluntarily, either to change jobs, retire or depart the workforce entirely.  

Given this difficult outlook, the next year or so could be especially challenging for employment and retention administrators. But there are steps that can be taken to entice talented workers to stick around. 

“Employees feel their employers can take concrete actions to help with recruitment and retention—from bumping up salaries and offering bonuses to recognizing employees for the important public services they are delivering,” Liss-Levinson said, noting hope the research sheds light for state and local governments to better understand “employee sentiment” and “to help craft solutions that will address the looming public workforce crisis.” 

Specifically, respondents highlighted salary increases as the most desired incentive to prevent burnout and stop people from leaving (52 percent), increased bonuses (50 percent) and a better recognition and appreciation of employees and what they do by their managers (38 percent). 

At this point, it’s clear there’s no going back to the way business was conducted before the pandemic. More than 75 percent of respondents indicated that COVID-19 has fundamentally changed their jobs, their workplaces and how they approach tasks. And the changes such as work from home or hybrid work situations that were implemented following stay at home orders were necessary, according to the report. But even with those accommodations, about one in four people said it’s been “extremely or very difficult to balance both work and homelife demands during the past six months,” the statement says.  

With the negative, respondents highlighted three elements of their job respondents are most satisfied with: job security (64 percent were extremely or very satisfied), leave benefits (60 percent), and health insurance (59 percent).  

Further, “Nearly two in three respondents (63 percent) agreed that the policies their employer has implemented during the pandemic have been fair to all employees,” the statement says, and “When asked about working in the public sector during the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents were most likely to report that they value serving their community during this difficult time (59 percent).”