Scientists’ survey reveals Covid-19 is taking a serious toll on them

Rising to the challenge of the pandemic has left the scientific workforce feeling tired and in low spirits, a new survey shows.

Scientists have been struggling as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scientists say they are exhausted and dispirited due to the Covid-19 pandemic, suffering fatigue from overwork and struggling with loss of morale.

An annual survey by Professional Scientists Australia shows a sharp jump in dissatisfaction by scientists with their work environment, with 70 per cent saying fatigue has increased, compared to 55 per cent a year earlier, and 63 per cent reporting staff morale has declined, compared to 46 per cent a year earlier.

“Australia’s scientists are overworked, exhausted and morale within their organisations is plummeting,” Professional Scientists Australia chief executive officer Jill McCabe said of its latest employment and remuneration report, conducted with Science & Technology Australia.

“The Covid-19 pandemic, lockdowns, the difficulties of managing Covid restrictions in the workplace and balancing home and work life have all taken an extraordinary toll,” Ms McCabe said.

Over half the scientists in the survey said they had received no compensation, either monetary or in time off, for working longer hours in the past year.

“This was particularly acute in the education sector, such as universities, where almost of 80 per cent of respondents reported they received no compensation for additional work,” said PSA president Katie Havelberg.

“Working in a lab – workloads have been crazy. Many, many extra hours required,” one survey respondent said.

PSA represents several thousand scientists working in a wide range of fields, but the 1275 respondents who completed the June 2021 online survey were also drawn from STA member societies.

About one in six survey respondents said they had been expected to work longer hours in the past year than in the previous one.

As a whole, 7 per cent of scientists had taken a pay cut as a result of the pandemic, 23 per cent had restricted access to research facilities during that time and about the same proportion (22 per cent) said anxiety or mental distress due to the pandemic was affecting their ability to work.

However there was little change in the proportion who intended to leave the profession —

20 per cent, compared to last year’s figure of 18 per cent.

Base salaries had grown, but at a slower rate than last year: up by 1.6 per cent on average in

the 12 months to June compared to 2.2 per cent the year before.

In other findings, 42 per cent of women said they had experienced gender bias or discrimination on the basis of gender in the previous three years.