‘It’s just crazy’: three in five Aussie workers are feeling burnt out

Three in five Aussie workers are mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted, with some professions harder hit than others.

Australians are being advised to work smarter, not harder, this year, as research shows three in five workers are feeling burnt out.

After three years of pandemic-related stress, office staff within the health sector (71 per cent) are the most likely to experience burnout.

They’re followed by those in professional services (66 per cent) and banking and finance (64 per cent), analysis of knowledge workers by instant messaging platform Slack reveals.

Government workers are the least likely to report feelings of burnout (47 per cent), along with those in IT and tech (48 per cent).

Tradies are also pushing the limits of exhaustion, with separate research from marketplace Hipages showing half work more than nine hours a day and two-thirds are reluctant to take a holiday for fear of disrupting the business.

Three in five Aussie workers are burnt out.

Prioritise wellbeing

While stress levels were expected to ease as impacts of the pandemic lessened, other factors like the rising cost of living continue to push workers to the brink, organisational psychologist Amantha Imber says.

“It’s so easy to mistakenly believe that the stress of everything (over the past few years) is behind us and everything is fine again, but that’s not always the case,’’ she says.

“Across the board, burnout has become a really big issue.”

To protect their wellbeing, Imber says workers should take mini breaks of three to six days every three months, as well as five-minute micro breaks throughout the day, with the latter proven to boost energy levels and productivity.

“People almost feel guilty about prioritising their wellbeing over whatever their business is asking of them,” Imber says.

“But if your workload is so high that you can’t take a break, I would say that is a problem with how your work has been allocated or maybe a sign that your productivity is already lagging.”

She says while “stressful days” are normal, consistently high stress levels, along with exhaustion that lasts more than two weeks, indicate an unsustainable workload.

To minimise burnout, workers should talk with their manager about delegating some tasks, Imber says.

Essential work

Working within teams of five to nine people is best to avoid burnout, Slack’s research reveals, with burnout highest in those who work in teams of 11 to 20.

Slack technology evangelist Derek Laney says having a leader who communicates well also minimises burnout, as does limiting the time spent in unproductive meetings or on other “unnecessary” activities.

“In around 30 per cent of the meetings that you go to, you never make a contribution or take anything away anyway,” Laney says. “You are largely passive in that environment.”

Builder Jason Charles says tradies are working up to 11 hours a day when travel to the site is included.

Building sector’s burnout blues

Long days on the tools are increasing burnout rates within the building sector.

Builder Jason Charles says workers shortages and the need to get things done are having a significant impact on tradies, who can work up to 11 hours a day when travel to the site is included.

“It is really hard,’’ he says. “And I can’t see an end in sight – the work keeps increasing.

“I would love to employ another five or six people if they were keen. It’s just crazy.”

Charles, who has worked on reality series The Block, says being responsible for meeting clients and arranging building quotes means he is not as susceptible to burn out as those on his team who are engaged in manual labour full time.

In the office, he takes a short break every couple of hours and expects his on-site workers to have regular breaks too.

“You’ve got to make sure you’re not driving those young employees into the ground,” he says.

“They’ve got to stay hydrated, especially during summer so … we will take icy poles out to them and make sure they’re OK.

“The difficult part is they all love extra money so they will try and get (casual) jobs on the weekends and then … they’re completely burnt out before the week even starts.”

Originally published as ‘It’s just crazy’: three in five Aussie workers are feeling burnt out