Remote Work Anxiety is Real Here’s How to Help Employees Who Have It

It's important for employers to set clear expectations - for example, saying that 'we'll talk twice a day at these times'. Sixty-six percent of remote workers with remote work anxiety said it impacts their overall productivity, while 54% said remote work anxiety makes them feel exhausted, lethargic or have difficulty sleeping. Some of the employees also said they get depression, irritability, sadness and/or panic attacks as a result. Poor leadership, work overload, and toxic workplace culture all contribute to burnout in the tech industry. Of 30 large tech companies surveyed, 25 had an employee burnout rate of 50% or more. If you feel like you are experiencing work-related stress that is affecting your mental and physical well-being, don’t be afraid to ask for help.

• This is a time that calls for leadership in everyone, not just those in management positions.
• 29% of remote workers responding “yes” to questions about burnout and 26% of office workers feeling the same way.
• Employees in the hybrid world are 1.12 times more likely to feel they are working too hard at their jobs than employees in the on-site world.
• Employee health and wellness has always been about more than offering your people a gym membership.
• How many people have already experienced burnout in their lives?
• In many organizations, employees were told to grab what they could from their office and head home, not knowing how long they would be there.

At least seven hours' uninterrupted sleep a night is a good starting point. Without hitting this consistently, you can build up a 'sleep debt' that takes a long time to pay back. Here's a few tactics for keeping yourself healthy in the face of increased pressure. Also, you may want to check out the Perceived Stress Scale to see where your levels of stress fall. This often means they are high performers, and even overachievers, so their bosses and managers contribute to creating an unmanageable workload, assuming they are doing fine.

Why is remote work leading to increased rates of employee burnout?

Few people want to go fully back to in-person work, but few want to stay 100% remote. 15% of remote workers didn’t take any time off from mid-2020 to mid-2021. 67% of remote workers say they feel pressured to always be available. 52% of remote workers say they miss getting a change of scenery every day. 63% of workers feel they’re discouraged from taking time off. 61% of remote workers now find it more difficult to “unplug” from work during off-hours . 35% of employees working from home say they are participating in too many virtual meetings every week .

It's important to realize, however, that you as a manager can only do so much. If you think someone on your team is experiencing physical or mental symptoms of burnout, it's always a good idea to point them to a medical professional who can properly evaluate and treat them. Because a lack of recognition can lead to burnout, organizations should implement formal and informal ways of showing appreciation for employees' hard work. It can be anything from an employee appreciation program or simply adding 10 minutes to every team meeting to praise people for their achievements. Managers should be prepared to spot signs of mental distress in their teams and point them to the proper medical and mental health resources.

How common is academic burnout?

If you enjoyed this article, follow us on Twitter or Linkedin, and stay in the loop. Not every remote employee will have access to a quiet space at home, or have a good home-office setup that motivates them to get started on work every day.

• This type of perk has been a great selling point to attract talent for years.
• Whether you were working a few days from home or a full week.
• Burnout is a syndrome that results from chronic work-related stress.
• Before the pandemic, the perks of working remotely -- either part of the time or all the time -- resulted in lower levels of burnout compared with employees who were on-site 100% of the time.
• While “winging it” was a good enough strategy during the pandemic, business leaders should prepare for a remote future.

As an employer or manager, it’s important that you look out for the well-being of your staff and seek ways to improve their remote working experience. This can help them stay productive healthy to ultimately boost your business. Giving team members more control over their week-to-week work schedules gives them an increased sense of control over their entire lives. Flexibility can account for both location (in-office, remote or hybrid) as well as schedules that best accommodate team members. While it may be impossible for some organizations to adapt perfectly to every single condition, utilizing elements of these practices helps counteract employee burnout.

What is work from home stress?

Employees who are experiencing job burnout may be hesitant to admit it. They may fear that their boss will see them as less committed to their job. But as Freudenberger discovered, it's actually the most committed workers who are the most prone to burnout. Managers should be regularly checking in with their direct reports to ensure they're feeling fulfilled at work and aren't being overloaded with tasks. The only way you can know about your employees' workloads is to ask them about it. On the one hand, workers themselves have partial responsibility for preventing burnout. If you're wondering how to not get burnt out at work because you think you're experiencing symptoms, it means you might have missed chances in the past to make things easier for your future self.

Burned-out employees are 63% more likely to take a sick day and 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job . The 5 most stressful jobs include enlisted military personnel, firefighters, airline pilots, police officers. 73% of lawyers surveyed in the UK were concerned about burnout. A lack of work-life balance, difficult clients, strained working relationships, and constant interruptions were some of the driving factors.

It garnered such innovations as Adsense, Gmail, and Google Meet. The impact of the pandemic on workers has been catastrophic in so many different ways that remote work fatigue it’s hard to quantify. Staying connected is one of the most proactive ways of looking after the mental health of workmates who are also working from home.

They'll have to get creative in how they inspire connectivity and collaboration and develop their employees. For employers, it might seem like there's not much you can do for employees stressed out by the pandemic beyond providing a steady paycheck, benefits and an employee assistance program.