Mexico Ranks High in Workers Experiencing Burnout
Mexico is ranked as the ninth country with the highest number of workers experiencing burnout globally. According to Adecco’s study, The Future Workforce, 67% of Mexicans have experienced work-related exhaustion at some point in their lives.
Engaging in physically or mentally demanding activities usually allows for recovery after a break. However, when these activities prolong and combine with other work-related factors, burnout becomes inevitable.
Understanding Burnout
Burnout, as per Mayo Clinic’s analysis Labor Wear and Tear: How to Detect It and Take Action, is a type of stress that includes physical or emotional wear and tear, leading to feelings of uselessness, powerlessness, and emptiness. These feelings collectively increase the risk of developing depression.
Burnout stems from various factors, including overworking, setting unattainable goals, maintaining constant urgencies, inadequate rest, self-imposed pressure, lack of team support, poor leadership, absence of purpose, workplace violence, and imbalance between work and personal life.
In Mexico, excessive workload without a balance between work hours and activities negatively impacts mental health. The issue is so severe that stress is considered a work-related illness under the Mexican Federal Labor Law.
Phases of Burnout
Detecting burnout is crucial. Salvador de Antuñano, Adecco’s Human Resources Director, states that work-related exhaustion affects both emotional and physical health, impairing skills like creativity and decision-making, resulting in decreased performance and increased absenteeism and turnover.
According to the study Work-Related Burnout: Consequences for Individuals, Organizations, and Equity published by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, there are signs to watch for that emerge in various stages.
- Hyperactivity: A phase where the individual exhibits high levels of activity, enabling them to put more effort into work and handle growing demands.
- Exhaustion Phase: Fatigue and energy loss set in, reducing capacity, productivity, and a sense of detachment emerges. Anxiety symptoms may appear, and fear can also manifest in some cases.
- Cognitive Deterioration: Hampered abilities, loss of motivation, and depression symptoms start to appear.
- Final Stage: Isolation from others, withdrawal, and emotional somatization lead to insomnia, headaches, and gastrointestinal disorders. Chronic physical issues arise, potentially leading to severe conditions.
The consequences escalate, causing emotional, social, and physical distress for workers that may result in cardiovascular diseases, self-harm, and even suicide.
The effects also manifest in decreased concentration, work quality, and innovation abilities. Unchecked burnout symptoms can rapidly worsen, impacting overall team performance and fostering dissatisfaction, turnover, and deteriorating organizational climate with increased interpersonal conflicts.
Reversing Burnout
According to Salvador de Antuñano, cansancio and work-related stress have become significant challenges for organizations due to their direct impact on productivity, performance, and employee well-being. Consequently, organizations must “create supportive and caring environments” for their employees.
“By prioritizing the mental and emotional health of their workforce, organizations can mitigate burnout effects, restore productivity, and cultivate an environment where creativity and optimal performance can thrive,” highlights de Antuñano.
In line with this, Adecco recommends learning to identify burnout symptoms—such as negative emotional and physical state changes, feelings of emptiness, fatigue, irritability, detachment from work or personal life, discomforts, or alterations in eating and sleeping habits.
Once the problem is detected, seeking help from immediate supervisors, HR departments, or healthcare professionals is advised. The next step involves receiving support, setting boundaries to balance work and personal life, practicing self-care, learning to rest, and establishing realistic goals.
Key Questions and Answers
- What is work-related burnout? Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It is characterized by feelings of cynicism, detachment, and a lack of accomplishment at work.
- What are the causes of burnout? Common causes include overworking, unrealistic goals, constant urgency, inadequate rest, self-imposed pressure, lack of team support, poor leadership, absence of purpose, workplace violence, and imbalance between work and personal life.
- What are the phases of burnout? The phases include hyperactivity, exhaustion, cognitive deterioration, and the final stage of severe distress leading to physical and mental health issues.
- How can organizations address burnout? Organizations should prioritize employee mental and emotional health, create supportive environments, and help employees identify and manage burnout symptoms.
- What are the consequences of unaddressed burnout? Unchecked burnout can lead to decreased productivity, increased absenteeism and turnover, deteriorating organizational climate, and severe health issues like cardiovascular diseases.
