Pandemic-related WFH policies spur burnout for 73% of marketers

Dive Brief:

Of all surveyed professionals who are working from home during the pandemic, 68.7% report feeling burnout, according to a Fishbowl post about a study from the workplace social network. The report includes input from 16,027 Fishbowl users across the country from companies including: IBM, JPMorgan, Facebook, McKinsey, Deloitte, Bank of America, Amazon, Edelman, Nike, Google and KPMG.
New York employees have the highest level of stress related to working from home, with 74.79% reporting burnout, followed by Washington, D.C., with 73.95% and Massachusetts with 73.13%. The research also found that 75% of professionals are opposed to company contact tracing, 42% of employees drink while working from home and 55% of professionals now work more hours than before the pandemic.
The tech industry has the highest percent of employees — 74.27% — reporting that working from home is leading to burnout, followed by the advertising and marketing industry with 73.19%. Women were more likely than men to report suffering from burnout — 70.45% versus 67.38%.

Dive Insight:

Fishbowl's latest report points to the potential impact of work-from-home policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. When Fishbowl conducted a similar survey last fall, 58% said they suffered from burnout. Since the pandemic hit and forces significantly more people to work from home, that number jumped to 68.7%.

The impact seems to be even more pronounced for the marketing and advertising industry, which has the second highest rate of professionals reporting burnout. The industry also shows the highest percentage of employees saying burnout has caused them to look for another job, with 43.56% seeking new opportunities, higher than the Fishbowl average of 37.41%.

These ad professionals could be feeling the added stress of potential job loss as they face a challenging professional environment. Since the pandemic hit, many in the industry have feared they would lose their job. In March, 65% of advertising professionals said they feared layoffs from pandemic.

Many companies have laid off employees or furloughed employees, Ad Age reports. Edelman let go 390 people, about 7% of its staff. Saatchi & Saatchi laid off 50-75 people in its Dallas and Los Angeles offices. VaynerMedia, Weber Shandwick and Golin have also culled its ranks. Publicis Groupe also cut staffers, imposed furloughs and reduced salaries.