Employee burnout, happiness rose together in 2020
Security and a sense of accomplishment helped workers keep their spirits up despite the increased burdens at work.
In one of the many perverse twists of 2020, employees reported feeling happier at work last year than they did in 2019, even as burnout increased. A survey from Glint, part of LinkedIn, found that in December 2020, happiness at work increased 5.4% from the year before, while burnout increased nearly 4%.
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“It’s important to remember we’re talking about people’s happiness at work,” Glint People Scientist Jaime Gonzales said in the report. “While chaos reigned in the outside world, people asked themselves, ‘Where can I find support, focus, and even refuge/?’ For many, that place was work.”
Indeed, as all around them, unemployment rose, people who were able to keep working have a “sense of gratitude for their job in turbulent times and, in many cases, the new resources and support their organizations made available,” Gonzales said.
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She added that opportunities for growth and a sense of accomplishment help workers feel happier.
Glint’s happiness findings are based on 9 million survey responses; findings on burnout are based on 600,000 comments and surveys from 2,000 LinkedIn members.
Burnout is up 4% after hitting a two-year high of 5.41% in August 2020. Glint identified symptoms of burnout that employers should measure among their workforce:
- Feeling disconnected from colleagues
- Overwhelming workload
- Conflict between responsibilities at home and at work
- Unclear job responsibilities
- Little or no acknowledgment of good work
- Little or no support from managers and peers
- Little or no autonomy
The survey found women are more likely than men to report feeling burnt out, about 20%. Women at small companies were more likely to feel burnt out (28%), as well as those who held management positions (41%).
Many of the symptoms of burnout are clearly associated with increased remote work — feeling disconnected, feeling unsupported or unacknowledged — but Amy Lavoie, Glint’s head of people science strategic development, noted that just returning to the office isn’t enough to overcome these challenges.
“In this sense, the pandemic has brought lasting change to the working world. We know through our research that employees want flexibility and where they work, and leaders are recognizing that one size fits all approach is a thing of the past,” Lavoie wrote in the report.
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