Burnout as a multidimensional phenomenon: How can workplaces be healthy environments?

Abstract Purpose Burnout was already a significant problem before the pandemics, but in the aftermath became a serious concern and a public health and occupational health priority. This study had two aims. First, it investigated how different healthy workplace dimensions and other health individual-level variables are related to burnout. Second, it examined differences in terms of presentism, absenteeism, quality of life between employees who report burnout symptoms and those who do not. Methods Participants were 1702 Portuguese employees from various organizations. 69.68% were female, age ranged from 18 to 72 years (M = 43.25 years, SD = 10.40). Almost half of the participants (49.9%; 851 participants) reported having at least one burnout symptom. Results Participants reported that they have felt exhausted (43.7%), irritated (34.5%) and sad (30.5%) always or very often in the last 4 weeks. Regression analysis revealed that the global score on burnout symptoms was negatively related to leadership engagement, psychosocial work environment, personal health resources, health behaviours, and satisfaction with salary. In addition, the global score on burnout symptoms was positively related to worker involvement, enterprise community involvement, perceived stress, and screen time at work. Furthermore, females tend to report a higher level of burnout symptoms compared to males. In addition, burnout has an impact on sickness absenteeism, presentism, and quality of life. Conclusions Our findings have an important contribution to understanding and promoting a healthier work environment and reinforce the need for measures and policies to promote mental health, manage stress, and prevent burnout in the workplace. Key messages • What best explains the burnout symptoms is the workers’ perceived stress, followed by psychosocial risk factors at work. • There is a positive relationship between perceived stress and burnout: effective work stress management is one of the protective factors that prevents burnout.