Burnout among government employees high, study shows

Arlington, VA — More than 2 out of 5 government workers are feeling burned out, and 86% of them say it’s affecting their health and wellness, according to a recent study.

Management consulting firm Eagle Hill Consulting commissioned a survey of nearly 1,500 U.S. workers, including 531 government employees.

Among the 41% of government workers experiencing “high levels of burnout,” millennials (50%), women (48%) and those in Generation Z (47%) more often reported being burned out than Gen Xers (40%), men (33%) and baby boomers (23%).

More than half of the government workers (57%) said their manager “took no action” to help after they expressed that they were burned out. Most of the baby boomers (86%) agreed, as did 64% of in-person workers and 63% of women.

“Extinguishing burnout should be a top priority at agencies because it impacts productivity, performance and employee health,” Eagle Hill President and CEO Melissa Jezior said in a press release. “Reducing burnout is complicated, but it isn’t unsurmountable, even with tight budgets and staff shortages.

“The first step for agency leaders is to actively solicit employee views to get at the root causes of burnout, then implement measurable actions that can alleviate the problem. We consistently find that workload and staff shortages are key drivers of burnout, but every agency will have varied causes and solutions.”