You’re not the only one feeling the burnout and distress at work.
Workers around the world are historically stressed, disengaged with work and increasingly fighting with bosses, a new Gallup poll released Tuesday revealed.
Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace: 2023 Report” looks at how “employees feel about their work and their lives, an important predictor of organizational resilience and performance.”
Stress at work was reported at a record high, with 44% of those surveyed expressing they have “a lot” of stress regarding their jobs, which matches results from the 2021 survey and carries on a “trend of elevated stress that began almost a decade earlier.”
It was revealed that 59% of employees are “quiet quitting” — disengaging from their jobs — and 18% are “loud quitting,” being enthusiastically disengaged.
The report speculates that internal factors such as work itself and low engagement as well as external factors such as inflation are contributing to high levels of stress at work, although Gallup didn’t ask the participants what was behind their stress.
Gallup estimated that low engagement at work is costing the global economy $9 trillion.
Employees were asked what would make their jobs better — and a majority didn’t even address salary or benefits.
Factors such as autonomy, clear goals and being appreciated and acknowledged for their work were most important to employees.
More than half of the employees surveyed said they’re actively searching for a new job, and 53% told Gallup that now is a good time to look for a new job — 8% higher than last year’s results.
These stats show that “deeply unhappy workers are able to leave bad workplaces” in order to find a job they actually enjoy.
The report said leaders at work need to know that high engagement doesn’t equate to happiness and to engage with their employees to ensure they are fulfilled at work.
“True engagement means your people are psychologically present to do their work. They understand what to do; they have what they need; and they have a supportive manager and a supportive team. They know why their work matters. They are work ready,” Gallup concluded.
