Health care workers burned out, but look to switch jobs, not careers

Credit: Serhii/Adobe Stock

A new report from Indeed on the health care workplace has found a significant gap between employers’ perceptions and the experiences of workers for areas such as burnout and job satisfaction.

The employment website’s survey, “Indeed’s Pulse of Healthcare 2024” was conducted between November of 2023 and January of this year, with more than 1,000 health care job seekers surveyed, along with responses from 489 professionals involved in recruiting or hiring health care workers.

The report found that despite a significant problem with burnout, most employees in the health care sector are dedicated and likely to stay in the field.

“Health care workers are passionate about their profession, and the vast majority plan to stay in the field for their next role as a result,” the report said. “However, persistent issues like burnout and poor work-life balance affect their job satisfaction and lead them to pursue opportunities elsewhere. For employers, this highlights a need to continue fostering supportive work environments that properly manage workloads and promote mental health.”

Burned out, overworked, and dedicated

The survey found that nearly one-third of health care employees report experiencing at least one symptom of burnout, with 48% reporting feelings of exhaustion or energy depletion, and 29% citing increased mental distance from their job and negativity/cynicism towards their current role. Other findings:

• 64% of health care workers said they are overworked and responsible for too many things during their shifts.
• 30% said they don’t have enough resources to adequately do their jobs.
• 42% also reported feeling underappreciated by their manager or supervisor
• 12% said they felt there’s a stigma around asking for help

At the same time, 56% say they would definitely stay in health care for their career; 54% said they would stay in the health care field for their next job. The Indeed researchers wrote that burnout existed, but it was pushing workers away from current employers, not the field of health care.

“More than half of employers say that the average tenure of their employees is less than four years, which can cost employers up to an average of nine months of salary for the positions they are looking to backfill,” the report said. “For employers, this job-hopping trend highlights a need to continue fostering supportive work environments that properly manage workloads and promote mental health.”

What workers want

Money continues to talk: when asked what the most important factor was when considering a new job, 70% of those surveyed said salary/hourly wage. However, work-life balance was also a top consideration, coming in second at 42%. Benefits was third, and 28%. Flexibility with shifts (20%) and the role of job duties and responsibilities (also 20%) came in fourth and fifth in order of importance.

Another encouraging finding was that most health care workers listed relationships with patients and co-workers as areas of high satisfaction. The Indeed survey found that respondents listed relationships/interactions with patients as the top factor they are satisfied with (72%), followed by relationships/interactions with co-workers and colleagues (67%).

The report also outlines areas disconnect between workers and their employers that hamper recruitment and retention.

For employers, top issues are high turnover rates, especially in rural areas. A significant percentage of employers reported “first day no-shows” (19%) and “ghosting” of jobs, where employee candidates don’t ever show up (29%).

Other problems for employers included the 57% of employers reporting difficulty with offering competitive salaries, and 70% saying they faced challenges in providing attractive benefits.

The survey further found that:

• Employers underestimated by 30 percentage points the importance employees place on appropriate staffing in the workplace (20% vs. 50%) when looking for a new job.

• Few employers perceived relationships between health care workers and patients (and workers and colleagues) as important to their employees despite their significant role for workers (18% vs. 46%)

• Many employers were unaware of the importance that employees place on psychological safety measures (8% vs. 20%), such as how their employers manage burnout among employees.

• Work-life balance was listed second only to salary for job seekers considering a new job (78%), but only 48% of employers list it as one of the top three factors they believe to be important to job seekers.

Related: Strong management is essential when it comes to avoiding employee burnout

According to Travis More, director of the health care category at Indeed, the survey results underscore the need for better work-life balance in this area of employment.

“Despite how challenging the job can be, health care workers embrace their calling guided by their deep-seated values and unwavering compassion alongside practical factors like competitive compensation and job stability,” Moore said. “By nurturing a culture of support and understanding, employers can not only boost job satisfaction but also uplift the quality of care provided by their teams. It’s a shared voyage of growth and fulfillment, where every effort to meet the needs of health care workers enriches both their professional journeys and personal lives.”