The phenomenon of "professional exhaustion", or "burnout", which is widely spread in world scale, is harassing the working population of China.

This is shown in a large-scale online survey sponsored by China Human Resources Development Network, an attempt to figure out the exhaustion degree of the society.

China is entering a peak period of professional exhaustion, which has become an "epidemic" among city employees, says Xu Yan, psychology professor with Beijing Normal University. Another expert, psychology professor Tian Bao from the Capital Normal University, says that due to increasing social uncertainties, the syndromes of being "burnt out" are rising in the country.

"Professional exhaustion is an inevitable outcome of a certain stage in social development, and is therefore a normal social problem," Xu Yan observed, "our society is in a transitional stage in which professional burnout is simply unavoidable. There is absolutely no need for us to panic."

Currently China still lacks intervention in this regard, Xu says. Many enterprises, especially small ones, don't pay attention to this question at all.

Main findings and experts' comments

General situation worrying
According to international standards, professional exhaustion is valued by three syndrome dimensions--emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP) and lack of personal accomplishment (PA).

EE refers to the personal belief that all one's emotional resources have been used up. It is displayed in a lack of passion for work, sense of setback, tension, or even fear of work. Among those surveyed, 35 percent showed a rather high level of EE and only 38.8 percent expressed no sign or low-level of EE.

DP features a syndrome of deliberately keeping a distance from one's work and related people, a lack of enthusiasm for or devotion to one's work, as well as suspicion of the meaning of work. Nearly half questioned (45.2 percent) reported rather high-level DP.

The lack of personal accomplishment (PA) means negative evaluation of oneself and a feeling of being inadequate for one's job. 42.3 percent of those questioned showed a rather weak sense of personal accomplishment.

Around 70 percent surveyed turned out slightly burnt out by showing signs in one of the three above-mentioned aspects, 39.2 percent moderately exhausted, (two aspects) and 13 percent heavily exhausted (three aspects).

Comment: according to surveys conducted in recent years among high-risk groups (such as office workers, teachers, medical workers and policemen), China's situation corresponds to that of the world.

Females are more likely to get exhausted
Statistics showed 41.4 percent exhaustion (moderate degree, same below) among females, and 37.2 percent among males. Besides, females reported a higher degree in all the three indicators.

Comment: the international conclusion is higher degree of exhaustion among males than females, which is also true to some particular groups at home. But it is possible that occurrence among females, as a whole, is higher than among males.

College graduates are more easily feel exhausted than postgraduates
68.8 percent college graduates showed a fairly high level of professional exhaustion, while the percentage among those above master's degree was only 35.8 percent.

Comment: after a few years of college enrollment expansion, many employing organizations have become only open to postgraduates.

Those who work for less than 4 years are most likely to get exhausted
The survey found that those who have been working for no more than 4 years are most likely to burn themselves out, especially those who just joined the working population (46.6 percent). The exhaustion percentages among those working 1, 2, 3 and 4 years are 44.7, 40.7, 40.5, 43.7 percent respectively, which declined noticeably among those working 5 years above and only stood at 31.2 percent for those working over 16 years.

Comment: the occurrence of professional exhaustion is a gradual process. People are at first full of enthusiasm and resources, but gradually they get worn out in passion, resources and energy, that's when exhaustion began, which would reach its peak upon the fourth year. This point corresponds to international experience, which defines a peak period between two to five years.

Civil servants the most burnt out, HR workers the least
Among civil servants surveyed 54.9 percent reported exhaustion, the highest among other professions, while human resources workers reported the lowest one, 30.6 percent.

Comment: the occurrence of exhaustion is much related with the nature and requirement of one's job, which can be divided into two categories--those featuring high tension, pressure and requirement, such as IT and journalism; and those demanding obedience, such as civil service. What's more, for civil servants, their only career opportunity lies in the prospect of being promoted. But limited posts and fierce competition have let many people down.

Government, public undertakings are highly exhausting sectors
Government departments and public undertakings are areas of highest exhaustion possibilities (52.0 percent), and professional services, accounting and law are the lowest ones (27.2 percent).

Comment: as a matter of fact, jobs dealing with people are all opt to cause high-degree exhaustion.

The management is less exhausted
Exhaustion is high among ordinary staff members (48.2 percent), followed by senior professionals (39.8 percent), middle-level professionals (33.1 percent), middle-level managers (33.1 percent) and finally high-level managers (only 26.1 percent).

Comment: this point is related with work participation and fair distribution. Generally, one's sense of personal achievement depends heavily on whether his initiative can be brought into full play. Ordinary staff members are usually low-ranked, less involved in enterprise management and less rewarded, so as a result they are more easily to feel exhausted.

Why exhaustion?

Considering overseas experiences, the survey report gave 16 major causes of professional exhaustion, including "no promotion", "organization not fair enough" and "dissatisfaction over the administrative means and style of one's direct leader".

Comment: choice of leader takes a large part in one's job seeking, since a leader' s capability and style influence the attitude of his subordinates significantly.

Adjustment from organizations more important than from individuals

Widespread professional exhaustion in China is normal, for we are undergoing a society transformation, said Xu Xinxin, research fellow from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The influence of traditional concepts on value, achievement and happiness is diminishing while new value system has not yet been totally founded. This is reflected in people's work and lives in the form of lacking recognition for one's career as well as confidence in one's life and happiness.

Professional burnout mostly happens among "white collars" and can be called an "urban epidemic", Xu pointed out. While among the vast population who are still fighting for survival, such as rural labors and migrant workers, it is much less possible to occur.

Professional exhaustion not only harms people mentally and physically, but results in bad working performance and the loss of professional ethics and, in the most serious cases, gives rise to family crisis and social instability.

Doctor Li Chaoping, an expert on public administration and human resources from Renmin University, stressed that in solving the problem we must put people at top, by respecting people's value, giving play to people's initiative and providing an arena for self-fulfillment.

Coping with the problem requires more efforts from employing organizations, departments and families rather than individuals. Only by combining collective and individual efforts can we address the question properly and efficiently, Li stressed.

By People's Daily Online