Covid burnt out risk in NZ workforce getting worse

Te Whanganui-a-Tara - Covid has transformed the traditional workplace and many New Zealand employees are reporting post-pandemic burnout

Covid has challenged the traditional idea of the workplace. Numerous lockdowns and variant outbreaks have transformed physical workspaces.

The number of Kiwi workers at high risk of burnout has risen from one in 10 at the start of the Covid outbreak to one in three, according to a new AUT wellbeing study.

New AUT research shows that, as another pandemic year comes to an end, the risk of being burnt out at work is soaring.

The latest data reports on all four iterations of the study May 2020, December 2020, April 2021, and November 2021. It also includes a previous study, from February 2020, that surveyed managers only.

Overall, the analysis paints a woeful and worsening picture of the health of the NZ workforce.

The surveys all involved 1000 participants across a diverse range of levels and roles. Most respondents (roughly 75 percent) were from the private sector; they were evenly split by gender (50/50), and they represented an age span of 20-70 years, with the average age of around 39 years.

To have a high burnt-out risk, respondents needed to score high in all four dimensions:

Exhaustion: both physically and mentally. Note: while a core factor, being ‘extremely exhausted does not equal burnout!

Mental distance: employees no longer consider what they do has any value or worth.

Emotional impairment: being unable to control your emotions, such as showing up to work and crying.

Cognitive impairment: being distracted and forgetful at work.

Those who feel the most tied to their office via smart devices had a 652.3 percent higher burnt-out risk.

Workers in highly bureaucratic firms had a 405.7% higher burnt-out risk. Those with dependents had a 257.5 percent higher burnt-out risk. Managers had a 235.5 percent higher burnt-out risk. Those working-from-home (WFH) had a 197.1% higher burnt-out risk.

The two key drivers of employee burnout are working after hours via smart devices and juggling high work demands. Those who fit these categories are two thirds likely to be in the high burnt-out risk category.

Organisations and businesses need to be as supportive as possible of their employees taking a decent and much-deserved summer break.

As covid still permeates the country and more pandemics and variants to come, managers must create a work environment that nurtures human beings living in this reality to maintain and grow productivity.

Flexible work policies need to be a mainstay as they benefit women and men, no matter who is the primary caregiver; enabling managers to manage to outcomes and not hours clocked; mental health and well-being support are a must.