Half Of Workers Around The World Are Struggling With Burnout: BCG Study

At some point in their careers, most, if not all, employees around the world have likely experienced symptoms of burnout at work—a state of exhaustion characterized by disenchantment with one’s job and a sense of inefficiency. A new report released today by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) reveals that, on average, 48% of workers from eight countries indicate that they are currently grappling with burnout.

Based on a survey of 11,000 desk-based and frontline workers in eight countries (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Japan, UK, and US) and titled Four Keys to Boosting Inclusion and Beating Burnout, the report also reveals that when employees feel included at work, burnout is halved.

Inclusion is central to building and maintaining a successful workforce. Inclusion in the workplace means that employees feel valued, respected, supported, and like they belong. Workers experiencing higher inclusion are also more likely to stay in their jobs, decreasing turnover costs for businesses.

For this research, BCG quantified inclusion as a score of how inclusive an employee finds the workplace to be, using BCG’s BLISS Index, a statistically rigorous tool that identifies the factors that most strongly influence feelings of inclusion in the workplace.

Further, the survey revealed four sentiments that have the greatest impact on employees’ overall sense of feeling included:

Good access to resources
Senior managerial support
Psychological safety with direct manager
Fair and equal opportunity for success

These signal how much, or how little, people are experiencing inclusion in the workplace. When employees feel that these sentiments are positively addressed in their workplace, they feel more included and less burned out. Unfortunately, these most important sentiments are also the ones where survey respondents indicated the lowest levels of satisfaction.

And while burnout is prevalent across all employee types, it’s far higher for certain subgroups. Women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, and deskless workers experienced up to 26% higher burnout. Moreover, these employee groups reported lower inclusion than employees who were in majority groups or were desk-based.

Feeling included means many different things to many different people. It follows that building inclusion can be daunting. But focusing on these four most important sentiments gives employers a clear starting point to ask workers the right questions and focus their efforts to understand the employee experience.

“Inclusion doesn’t end at recruitment. It requires listening to workers on an ongoing basis and addressing their pain points. It must address both the employee offer and the daily experience of employees with their managers,” said Gabrielle Novacek, a managing director and partner at BCG and coauthor of the report.

“By focusing on the four key areas and diagnosing where they may be falling short in their current efforts to meet their employees’ needs, companies will be able to identify where to invest and innovate to improve feelings of inclusion and reduce burnout. Establishing programs to meet these needs will help employers avoid the costs associated with burnout, be able to attract talent, and reap the benefits of a thriving workforce.”