Employees are feeling burned out—bosses need to listen and act

Amid the most contagious wave of COVID-19 to date, and as Canadians approach two full years of living with pandemic restrictions and health precautions, many say they are hitting a wall when it comes to their mental, physical and emotional well-being.

For front-line workers who may be working longer hours or double duty to cover for sick colleagues, burnout is particularly acute.

“People have been putting in crazy long days,” said Manjeet Lotey, an independent pharmacist in Edmonton. “We’re doing all these shots and then … we still have a pharmacy to run, too.”

“A lot of my colleagues are burnt out. All we talk about is some people regret coming into this profession at one point because we’re asked to do so much — and we’re happy to do it, but it just gets hard.”

Fundamentally, burnout means someone is exhausted. And according to Lapierre, that typically manifests in three distinct ways: emotional, physical and cognitive.

Burnt out employees may struggle to control their emotions, perhaps experiencing mood swings or sudden tearfulness. Cognitively, some may struggle to do tasks they understand or become forgetful. Others may feel the physical effects of exhaustion.