By TRINA THOMAS for the Illinois Radio Network
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (IRN) — Illinois workers are feeling burnt out from their job, but employers hope to alter the outcome.
According to MyBioSource.com, the average Illinois resident experienced burnout in 2022 in just a mere 176 days into the year, on June 27. The number comes from a survey of 4,031 workers across the country.
“It shows the problem that employers are having in hiring and keeping their workforce,” Illinois State Director of the National Federation of Independent Business Chris Davis said. “Forty-nine percent of employers report open positions and trouble finding qualified candidates for those positions.“
According to Davis, employers are offering additional incentives to existing employees like pay raises.
“They’re cross-training employees along with those pay raises,” Davis said. “They’re offering additional benefits such as gas cards and grocery gift cards. They’re doing as much as they possibly can to keep good employees and keep the employees that they have, those good employees, happy.”
Davis said employers are doing the best that they can by working with what they got and crossing their fingers they can find someone willing to put in the work and show up.
“(Employers) are investing heavily in training and doing what they can to work with employees who are showing a willingness to be there and invest in a job,” Davis said.
The World Health Organization defines burnout as a syndrome of chronic workplace stress. This stress is not successfully managed.
“I think anecdotally employers are doing the best that they can with those employees, that they can find someone willing to show up,” Davis said.
The WHO says that burnout typically consists of the following symptoms: Feeling depletion of energy or exhaustion, an uptick of mental distance from a job or feelings negatively of a job, and/or a reduction in professional efficacy.