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Job Burnout: Employers and employees share the blame

Job burnout is no doubt a real concern these days. So it’s no wonder the blogosphere is filling up with commentary and opinions about where we all went wrong. And I’m jumping on the bandwagon.  Two recent blog posts caught my eye regarding this issue.


A post on myITform’s blog references a recent study by Careerbuilder.com which found over 75% of respondents felt job burnout. The blog’s author goes on to reference his own research on the topic attributing some of job burnout to the increased number of hours Americans work.

On an about.com career planning page, it references the Miriam-Webster definition of burnout as "exhaustion of physical or emotional strength or motivation usually as a result of prolonged stress or frustration." The most important word in that definition is “prolonged.” The article goes on to list possible causes of job burnout, including working harder because of leaner staffs, working hard without being rewarded and not having enough time away from work.


The bottom line is this – burnout by its own definition is when a worker experiences stress or frustration for a prolonged period of time. Employers can quite easily curb the prevalence of job burnout by making the environment at work less stressful by rewarding hard workers and providing the tools necessary to get their jobs done. It’s that simple. Yet in our own research, we found that only half of workers feel they have adequate resources to get their jobs done. And how many studies must be conducted before employers begin to acknowledge that work/life balance initiatives pay off in both employee morale and productivity?

However, employees themselves also need to take some ownership over their own job burnout. If you are experiencing prolonged stress because you aren’t being rewarded for working hard, I am here to tell you that it’s time to move on. Any employer, in this market, that doesn’t recognize the value of a hard worker doesn’t deserve to keep you.

And, when I see our own research indicating nearly one-third of workers are either unsure or don’t plan to take a vacation this summer, it begs the question – are these the same workers that are feeling the effects of job burnout?

Sadly, the prognosis for this problem ailing U.S. workers doesn't look good - not when employers are slow to take corrective actions and our own workers don't take the breaks they so desperately need.