5 Types of Jobs with a High Burnout Rate
Landing a job is usually considered a blessing, but actually keeping the job may not be all smiles and sunshine. Job burnout is a very serious concern for many employees, especially if you work in a very demanding work environment. Aside from not feeling satisfied with the job, a person suffering from burnout is also vulnerable to health issues often associated with stress or depression.
The following are five types of jobs with very high burnout rates. If you happen to be working any of these jobs (or if you’re planning to), you have to prepare yourself or you’ll end up as part of the statistic. It’s best to research about ways to help deal with job burnout in advance before the burn gets to you.
- Physicians
Long hours and an almost non-stop demand for patient care are just part of the many problems that cause a high burnout rate among physicians. How high? According to the American Medical Association, almost every other physician has experienced or will experience the effects of job burnout during their career.
Physicians in general have it bad, but some have it worse than others. Studies also say that physicians specializing in emergency care, family physicians, and internists are more likely to experience burnouts than other physicians simply because of the work environment.
- Nurses
Sure, nurses don’t have to deal with some issues that physicians have, but they have their own set of problems that can stress them out. Nurses interact with patients more often than doctors, which mean they spend more time dealing with people that are already suffering because of a disease. Depression and stress can also be contagious, and combining it with the amount of effort required to tend to patients can lead to high burnout rates.
Compensation can also be a major reason why some nurses experience job burnout. While the pay is still decent, many of them think that it’s not enough, considering the amount of stress they put up with because of the long hours. As a result, 4 out of 10 nurses that experience burnouts even end up leaving theirjob.
- Social Workers
Similar to workers in the healthcare industry, social workers tend to get job burnout because other people’s grief tends to rub off on them. Also known as Secondary Traumatic Stress syndrome or STS, this is responsible for job burnout on 48% of all social workers.
As if STS isn’t enough, others even have to deal with PTSD in several cases (especially those working in extremely impoverished or violent areas). This, plus the fact that they are one of the lower-paying jobs available,can affect even the most determined individuals.
- Teachers
While teaching has always been considered a noble profession, it doesn’t hide the fact that it’s also one of the most stressful jobs. Limited access to technology and very frustrating working conditions (especially for those teaching younger students) have caused even those who’ve had teaching as their lifelong goal give up the job for something more satisfying.
What’s interesting to note is that younger teachers are more affected by job burnout. According to a recent study, teachers aged 30 or younger are 51% more likely to experience job burnout than older teachers, and are more likely to leave the profession altogether.
- Elementary School Principal
Yet another job related to education, working as an elementary school principal often means dealing with unruly students like teachers do, except with the added burden of greater administrative tasks. Long work hours, constant communication with organizations to organize field trips or school events, and efforts to uphold school image require immense amounts of dedication.
All the stress clearly shows; according to a study by the National Association of Elementary School Principals, 3 out of 4 principals experience severe cases of job burnout, along with the mental and health symptoms associated with it.
Job burnout is a real problem even in other jobs, but it’s possible to minimize or even completely avoid its negative effects. A healthy work-life balance and making efforts to improve the work environment can go a long way in giving workers a much needed morale boost.