More than half British workers claim they have experienced some of the symptoms associated with over-work and burnout during the past six months, research has claimed. A third of people questioned said they had experienced physical or emotional exhaustion, while 26% said they had lost sleep or been ill as a result of worrying about work, according to human resources consultancy Hudson.
Just under half of employees said they thought the situation had got worse during the past five years. They blamed the problem on the increased pace of business life and an increasingly competitive environment, coupled with more demands being made on fewer staff.
But while 92% of employers said they thought burnout existed, just 35% thought it was a problem in their own company and 59% said they had no system in place to help a worker who was suffering from it. Around 14% of HR managers said they had lost staff due to burnout, while 36% said they had seen a decline in productivity and 79% said there had been an increase in the number of sick days being taken.

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