High Resilience and Employer Support Serve as Critical Buffer
Boston, MA (September 29, 2020) — The pandemic has upended the lives and well-being of nearly everyone, but Healthcare employees had the largest decrease in motivation (-48%) of any industry and were least likely to say their employer was supportive, according to a new meQuilibrium study of 7,000 workers which compared changes in job stress, burnout, motivation and sleep between December 2019 and June 2020.
Tech industry employees had the most broadly negative changes of any industry, with double-digit increases in job stress (11%), disordered sleep (14%), burnout (23%), and an almost 40% drop in motivation.
The study also found that Communications industry employees, despite largely supportive employers and limited front line exposure, experienced the largest increase in job stress (30%) and also experienced major decreases in motivation (-33%). Finance/Insurance industry employees seem to have avoided COVID-19-related burnout but face significant challenges with motivation (-32%) and sleep (11%).
“The cumulative impact of the pandemic has been devastating to workers’ mental well-being,” says Brad Smith, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer, meQuilibrium. “The specific challenges employees face differ dramatically by industry, age and gender, yet the overall trend clearly shows the tremendous strain of the pandemic in increased stress, burnout, diminished motivation, and the inability to remain consistently positive.”
Well-being of Younger Workers and Working Women Hard Hit
The study also found that workers under 40 experienced a 23% increase in disordered sleep, versus an increase in sleep issues of only 1% in older workers. Motivation had a serious decline, with workers under 40 experiencing a decline of 45%, while workers over 40 suffered a 14% decline in motivation. There was also a 19% increase in the risk of burnout among the younger group, while the older group experienced a 3% decreased risk of burnout between December 2019 and June 2020.
“Negative effects of COVID-19 on sleep, burnout, motivation and stress among younger people may reflect more numerous stressors associated with an earlier life stage,” says Brad Smith, PhD., Chief Science Officer, meQuilibrium. “In addition to the current crisis, workers under 40 are more likely to be coping with balancing child care and work, as well as facing lower income levels and higher career pressure than their older colleagues.”
Working women carry a high burden in the workplace, due to the many demands placed on them, and those responsibilities increased during COVID. The study found that high job stress among women increased by nearly 20%, while job stress among men increased just 1.6%. In addition to job stress, the rate of decreased motivation was substantially higher among women (31%) than among men (21%).
Employer Support Serves As Critical Buffer
The study found that perceptions of employer support serve as a critical buffer against threats to employee well-being. The rate of increase in job stress among employees who feel unsupported by their employer was more than ten times higher than those who feel strongly supported by their employer. Increases in symptoms of burnout, disordered sleep, and motivation difficulties were also all substantially higher among those who did not feel supported by an employer.
“Employer support for employee well-being can help reduce behavioral health risk, as well as improve engagement and commitment from employees,” says Dr. Smith. “Resilience is a crucial skill, as study participants with the highest resilience levels managed the negative effects of COVID-19 significantly better than those with low or moderate resilience.”
The full meQuilibrium study can be found here.
About meQuilibrium
meQuilibrium is the #1 digital solution for building resilience at scale for Fortune 500 global enterprises, helping businesses innovate and navigate uncertain times. meQuilibrium harnesses the science of resilience, AI, predictive analytics and neuroscience to help businesses build workforce well-being and potential. Leading employers have recognized the power of resilience, and meQuilibrium’s intelligent cloud-based resilience-building system, to both mitigate the negative impacts of stress on an individual basis, at scale, but to also build resilient and agile workforce populations capable of thriving in change.
meQuilibrium has been named to the Inc. 5000 list two years in a row and has been honored with numerous other awards including a TalentCulture 2020 HR Tech Award and Deloitte’s 2019 North America Technology Fast 500 Award. Learn more at https://www.meQuilibrium.com.
