As per a research consortium backed by Salesforce Inc.’s Slack Technologies, more than 40% of people with desk jobs feel burned out at work.
It is after the pandemic that this dissatisfaction has increased and intensified. For the countries other than US, the burnout rate has been rising enough to offset slight improvements seen by the workers.
Multiple Reasons Leading to Increased Workplace Discontent
Adding fuel to fire are factors like economic uncertainty, fear of getting laid off, and rising pressure to work from office. These all reasons, as per Future Forum researchers, is leading to the workplace discontent.
Bloomberg reported that in the 41 percent of people surveyed said they felt burned out at the end of 2022, with the increasing number of layoffs and companies calling in their employees to work from offices in US. Same percentage stood at 42% globally.
In addition to the afore discussed issues, what is exacerbating it further is the regional pressures in different countries.
On one hand, strikes have crippled the US as public-sector unions protest “paltry pay increases” while on the other hand, French citizens have taken to the streets to protest the government’s plan to raise the retirement age to 64 from 62, which could result in some concessions around working from home.
The land of rising sun is going through tough tides too, as the Japanese government has asked firms there to help workers cope with the highest inflation since 1981.
Flexibility Increases Productivity
The Future Forum survey also found that pandemic-era workers with the freedom to choose where and when they work are usually more productive and less likely to quit.
“All the benefits of flexibility are about how you give people focused time, rather than sweating how many days of week they are in,” Brian Elliott, a Slack executive who oversees the Future Forum research told Bloomberg. “Flexibility also improves a company’s culture, and every time I tell executives this, it surprises them.”
