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Employees Burned Out at Companies That Implemented Layoffs

May 29, 2009 — Nearly one-third of employees who have survived layoffs within their organizations report that they feel burned out.

It’s no surprise. According to CareerBuilder’s latest survey of more than 4,400 workers nationwide:

• 47% of workers reported they have taken on more responsibility because of a layoff within their organization
• 37% said they are handling the work of two people
• 30% said they feel burned out
• 34% of workers who kept their jobs after a layoff said they are spending more time at the office
• 17% are putting in at least 10 hours per day
• 22% are working more weekends.

“Companies today are having to do more with less as they contend with shrinking budgets and staff levels,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder.  “Employees are feeling added pressure as they shoulder heavier workloads and strive to maintain productivity levels.  It’s critical that managers and employees work together to prioritize and set realistic expectations, so work demands feel attainable and less overwhelming.” 

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 4,435 U.S. employees (employed full-time; not self-employed; non- government; ages 18 and over) between Feb. 20 and March 11, 2009. Percentages for some questions are based on a subset of employees whose companies have experienced layoffs, based on their responses to certain questions.  With a pure probability sample of 4,435, one could say with a 95% probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 1.47 percentage points.  Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. 

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