'Great Resignation': Significant number of women plan to quit jobs due to burnout, says report

Mumbai: A significant number of women employees plan to quit jobs within the next two years due to burnout and lack of flexible work hours, according to a report. The report indicates the 'great resignation'-- a global phenomena of people leaving jobs in a large number amid COVID-19 pandemic -- seems to continue especially among women workforce.

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According to Deloitte's 'Women@Work 2022: A Global Outlook' report, about 56 per cent of women say their stress levels are higher than they were a year ago, and almost half feel burned out. The report is based on views of 5,000 women surveyed between November 2021 and February 2022 across 10 countries, including 500 in India.

Burnout is a top factor which is driving women away from their employers with nearly 40 per cent actively looking for a new employer cited it as the main reason. More than half of those surveyed want to leave their employer in the next two years, and only 9 per cent plan to stay with their current employer for more than five years, it added.

The report further revealed that a majority of respondents continue to experience non-inclusive behaviours at work, but few of these behaviours are reported to employers. While non-inclusive behaviours impact the majority of respondents across all surveyed geographies, women in ethnic minority groups in their countries, LGBT+ women and those in lower management or non-managerial roles are more likely to experience these behaviours, it noted.

Many feel less optimistic about their career prospects compared with their feelings 12 months ago, the report added.

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According to the report, around 60 per cent of women who work in hybrid work environments feel they have been excluded from important meetings.

The top three microaggressions faced by women in India included being interrupted or talked over in meetings, not being invited to traditionally male-dominated activities and being excluded from informal interactions or conversations, it said. Only 24 per cent of non-inclusive behaviours were reported to employers, it said.

The report also found that women who work for gender equality leaders report far higher levels of well-being and job satisfaction. Of the women who work for them (5 per cent of respondents), 87 per cent say they received adequate mental health support from their employer, and the same percentage feel comfortable talking about their mental health in the workplace, it said.

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Women who work for gender equality leaders also report far more positive experiences in hybrid working with only 3 per cent saying they feel burned out, the report said.

"While the hybrid model has been touted as a best-of-both-worlds scenario, giving people the comfort of working from home and the connectedness of working from the office, the survey tells us that women professionals seem to be facing the disadvantages of both instead, with year-on-year increases in caregiving responsibilities and stress levels, as well as a higher likelihood of experiencing microaggressions during hybrid working," said Mohinish Sinha, Deloitte India partner and diversity, equity, and inclusion leader.

It's time for all organisations to walk the talk when it comes to support structures and growth mechanisms for women professionals, if they are to prevent loss of diversity of thought, crucial for balanced decision-making, Sinha added.