Almost a quarter (23 percent) of all sick leave in the past year was attributed to burnout symptoms, research from tech-driven insurance company YuLife has revealed.
The findings showed that 77 percent of the UK workforce experienced one or more symptoms of it in the last 12 months.
Defined as a state of physical and emotional exhaustion related to work, burnout symptoms can include feeling tired or drained, feeling helpless, trapped and/or defeated, feeling detached, having a cynical or negative outlook, or feeling overwhelmed.
Persistent problem
The survey of 2,012 employees, conducted by YouGov between 23 May and 1 June, 2024 on behalf of YuLife, found that many employees who experience this health issue feel its effects persistently.
Close to a third (31 percent) of people said they feel burnt out at least once a month and 50 percent said they feel like this at least every six months.
Further results showed that 33 percent of employees think that high workload is the leading cause of burnout, followed by bad management (22 percent) and poor work-life balance (21 percent).
Most common symptom
The most common symptom of burnout is tiredness, with 56 percent of respondents experiencing the problem reporting this. Stress was the second most common symptom (45 percent), followed by loss of motivation (44 percent).
More than two-thirds (69 percent) of respondents believe their employer has a responsibility to support their recovery.
But 43 percent of respondents said that their employers do not track burnout symptoms. Where employers so track it, respondents were asked how they do this. The most common answer was one-on-one meetings with managers (27 percent).
Better tracking
Sammy Rubin, CEO and founder of YuLife, said: “As a widespread issue affecting a large proportion of employees, there is a need for employers to recognise burnout and address it proactively to maintain a healthy and productive workforce.
“Employers must be aware of the prevalence of burnout by better tracking symptoms, [then they can] implement new strategies to both prevent it and help employees successfully recover from it before they re-enter the workforce.”
However, 54 percent of employees felt that their employer doesn’t communicate effectively around burnout issues and more than two-fifths of respondents (42 percent) said that their company doesn’t provide a wellbeing programme.
Sector prevalence
Researchers said this shows that UK employers still have a way to go to address the root causes of burnout.
Employees working in the hospitality and leisure (58 percent) and construction (53 percent) sectors reported that their company does not have a wellbeing programme, which researchers said highlights that burnout can be a greater cause for concern in certain industries.
Burnout was found to be most prevalent in the medical and health services (53 percent), education (51 percent) and retail (50 percent). Employees in the hospitality and leisure sector felt burnout the least, but still reported a high 35 percent.
