Burnout rate spikes as India Inc battles stress
Recruitment firms say several candidates, in a bid to protect their worklife balance, are rejecting offers from organizations which operate more than five days a week.
Namrata Singh & Shubham Mukherjee, TNN | Nov 23, 2013, 02.07AM IST
MUMBAI: Growing incidence of lifestyle diseases, acidity and related gastrointestinal disorders at an early age among the working population is a clear pointer towards higher stress levels at the workplace, resulting in little or no "me-time" for the employee. Fatigue and stress to meet stretched targets at the workplace is being documented for a while now but the intensity has gone up several notches lately.
The result is burnout and it is increasing both in terms of quantum and intensity. Some human resource professionals believe it has gone up three times over the last two to three years. Dr P S Murthy, a consultant psychiatrist at Manipal Hospital in Bangalore, who has been practicing in the field for around 25 years, has seen a significant rise in the number of people affected by work-related stress and burnout.
He has seen people increasingly showing symptoms of general anxiety disorder, depression andinsomnia, largely among those who are married and above 25 years of age. "Out of the total number of people who visit us daily, more than 50% are afflicted by work related stress. This was not the case 5 years back," says Murthy.
Ronesh Puri, head honcho of Executive Access, an executive search firm, agrees that burnout cases have gone up manifold over the last couple of years, especially in the senior management. "The expectations from CEOs have multiplied over the last few years. Stakeholders are watching them closely, putting more pressure on the overworked corporate bosses. The complexities of jobs and the magnitude of their work have also seen an upward trajectory putting added pressures on them."
He likens the job to riding a tiger. "Once you have been a CEO,...
