After working through eight months of a pandemic that shows no sign of abating, many white collar workers are becoming burned out and exhausted by remote work.
To combat this, some corporate employers are rolling out new approaches to combat burnout. Eventbrite, for instance, altered their leadership training to put an emphasis on how supervisors can manage more empathetically during the pandemic. Fidelity Investments recently piloted a program allowing employees to work 30 hours a week, with a small pay cut (but retained benefits), to keep their employees from becoming overwhelmed. Other employers have supplied bonus “self-care days” to encourage their workers to unplug and relax, and pandemic-related peer groups on topics like parenting or isolation have shown success in helping workers stay connected. Although corporate jobs allow more flexibility for managers to intervene, some tactics might be applicable to in-person work as well, like retail and food services.
Has your workplace attempted to address burnout? What would you like to see from your employer? We want to hear from you! Give us a call at 866-893-5722.
Guest:
Chip Cutter, reporter for the Wall Street Journal covering workplace issues, and author of the piece “Companies Offer Creative Solutions to Worker Burnout During the Pandemic”; he tweets