Today’s workplace: Stressed, burned out - and happy
Most workers in the United States and Canada feel overworked and burnt out, but an even higher proportion - about six of every seven – say they’re happy with their work, according to a new survey from Framingham-based Staples.
Staples’ first Advantage Workplace Index found that while 53 percent of workers feel overworked and burnt out, an overwhelming 86 percent are still happy at their jobs and motivated to rise in their organizations, a statement from Staples said.
The index was created in conjunction with Dan Schawbel, founder of WorkplaceTrends.com, a research and advisory membership service for human resources professionals, and the managing partner of Millennial Branding, a Gen Y research and consulting firm.
“With the rise of the mobile workforce and the resulting ‘always on’ work culture, it’s not a surprise that employees are feeling overworked and burnt out,” Schawbel said. “While many are still happy at work, we have to ask whether it’s because they’re truly inspired and motivated, or simply conditioned to the new reality? Either way, employers need to retain talent and optimize productivity, engagement and loyalty with employees.”
Other findings from the survey:
- Employees are working longer days, and about a quarter of them regularly work after the standard workday is done.
- About four out of 10 work on weekends at least once a month.
- Breaks are becoming rare; about half of employees feel like they cannot get up for a break at all, and just under half eat lunch at their desks.
- Almost four out of 10 employees acknowledge that burnout is a motivator for a new job search.
- Burnout is also eroding productivity, according to 66 percent of U.S. employees. The biggest culprits in burnout include workload (53 percent), personal pressures employees put on themselves to perform (41 percent) and time pressures (40 percent).
- About half of employees surveyed acknowledge they receive too much email, with about one-third of those saying that email overload hurts productivity.
- Inefficient meetings also appear to be a major productivity drain, with some employees spending more than two hours a day in meetings.
- More than a quarter of employees say meetings are inefficient.
- Most employees also say a distraction-free environment would increase their productivity at least 20 percent, citing loud coworkers as the top distraction.
WBJ Web Partners
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