Study: One in four Finns show signs of work exhaustion
Burnout not a result of excess work, but an imbalance of demands and resources
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One in four working Finns have been found to experience mild to severe work-related exhaustion. According to an extensive study involving more than 3,700 working Finns aged between 30 and 64, the symptoms seem to have declined from the 1990s, but remain quite common in the fields of agriculture, industry, and transport.
Women over 55 experience exhaustion much more frequently than men the same age. One possible reason for this could be that men are more prone to take early retirement than women.
The study also indicates that the burnout problem is more common in blue-collar professions than among white-collar workers.
According to researcher Kirsi Ahola of the Institute of Occupational Health, more measures are needed to improve working conditions, especially if the retirement age is to be raised.
The interviews for the study were taken in 2000 and 2001 as part of a larger assay on Finnish health.
An earlier, more limited study conducted in 1997 indicated that 48% of respondents experienced mild fatigue at work, and seven percent complained of severe exhaustion or burnout. Now mild exhaustion is experienced by one in four, and the problem was severe for just 2.5%.
Ahola notes that new employees have entered the job market, and many of the most exhausted workers have retired, but adds that this alone cannot explain the change.
Somewhat unexpectedly, exhaustion at work was least common among those in the financial and insurance business, while it was most common in agriculture and forestry, industry, and transport. The problem was also common in public administration and the education branch.
Among working women over 55, some 37% felt mild exhaustion, and for six percent it was severe. Among men the same age, the figures were 27% and four percent respectively.
Ahola emphasises that exhaustion at work is not an indication of inferiority of the individual, but rather the result of impossible demands.
”Burnout effects are not the result of a large amount of work as such, but rather the imbalance of demands and resources”, says Kirsi Ahola.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 22.10.2004 - TODAY |
 Study: One in four Finns show signs of work exhaustion |
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