PORTLAND, Ore. — What has come to be known as the ‘Great Resignation” has been happening since spring 2021 in the U.S. when job openings and people quitting swelled to historic highs and layoff rates fell to record lows.
U.S. federal data shows nearly 4.3 million people quit their jobs in January 2022 alone, just shy of the annual record set in November 2021.
“The great resignation is because people do feel stressed and they feel like they need to check out of the workforce, sort of, get some life-work balance back in place before they go back,” President of Regence Blue Cross Blue Shield Angela Dowling said.
The pandemic changed perspectives, especially in the workplace. However, stress, well, that hasn’t gone away. In fact, the burnout rate has more than doubled since the pandemic began for Portland-area employees, according to a recent Regence and Portland Business Journal survey.
It found that 25% of Portland respondents said they constantly or frequently experienced workplace burnout before the pandemic; now 59% say they are experiencing burnout.
“A lot of conversations about the great resignation, but it’s really a great recalibration. It’s recalibrating how employers think about what they’re going to ask their employees to do,” Chief Executive and Equity Officer at Motus Recruiting Orlando Williams said. “The cadence is even changing, being able to take breaks throughout the day, particularly in virtual environments so that people can recharge and really complete the work in, I think, an excellent way.”
The increase in stress and burnout comes from a lot of factors from the pandemic, including a constant need to adjust.
“There’s a lot of transition in that very short period of time,” Dowling said. “Employees are really struggling with: What does that mean? How does that work in my life going forward? And so there’s a tremendous amount of stress.”
The survey also found differences between men and women in how they’re experiencing workplace burnout. It found women are more likely than men to be burnt-out, both before (31% vs. 14%) and after the pandemic (67% vs. 39%).
Women were significantly more likely to use talk therapy to manage feeling burnout. Female executives are more likely to have seen a rise in employees showing signs of burnout than their male counterparts. Women employees are also significantly more likely to want their company to implement initiatives, such as company-wide mental health days (67% vs. 24%), according to the Regence survey.
“And if you’re a caregiver, on top of all of that; so you have children, adult parents, or others that you’re caring for on top of the other stressors — those individuals had a higher rate of exiting the workforce,” Dowling said.
The great exodus of workers during the pandemic has shifted the way employers are recognizing and accommodating their employees. When it comes to a healthy work-life balance, Dowling said it’s up to the employer to be flexible.
“In today’s day and age, employers do not want to lose employees. They want to keep their employees and so they’re willing, on multiple different occasions, to be flexible and accommodate employees when needed,” Dowling said.
“It’s no longer just task-oriented… It’s actually, am I connected to the work? Does the work have meaning? Does it align with my personal values and mission statement?” Williams said. “Employees in this market are making that very well-known. It’s actually driving the way organizations are recruiting and certainly changing the landscape of how they view talent.”
The empowerment of employees is changing and that’s forcing employers to change too. Addressing stress and work-life balance is a big part of that.
More than half of respondents to the Regence survey said their companies’ ability to address workplace burnout is fair or poor and a quarter said their company doesn’t address the topic at all.
Williams and Dowling said that needs to change to retain and bring employees back to the workforce.
“We need them to come back in and if you offer a flexible work environment, an environment that embraces that diversity, you’re likely to get employees to come back to work,” Dowling said.
“We’re not diminishing the value of hard work,” Williams made clear. “We want individuals to still work hard and to bring that fortitude to their jobs, but the reality of it is – the individuals who are available to do the work, who feel recharged, and feel they have a say in the kind of work – just produce better outcomes.”
If you’re feeling burnout and stress at work, Dowling said a good place to start is your workplace Assistance Program. She sai to ask your employer or human resources department about what’s available including telehealth services.