How Gen Z is taking action to avoid burnout: Changing the way work functions

One in four young Australians are being plagued by a problem that is “actively hurting” Australian workplaces’ bottom line, costing them $6.8 billion every year.Research by News Corp’s Growth Distillery with Medibank found that, of the 34 percent of Australians currently experiencing burnout, 45 percent were Gen Z and 41 percent millennials – citing a lack of downtime and saying they feel overburdened daily due to career demands, family responsibilities, and social expectations.The most widely-used burnout measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), defines it by three criteria: exhaustion; loss of empathy towards service recipients or cynicism directed towards one’s job (known as depersonalization); and reduced professional accomplishment.“It sounds like, ‘I’m so exhausted,’ ‘I just don’t care anymore,’ ‘What I am doing is making no difference,’ and ‘What’s the point?,’” clinical psychologist Dr.Emily Musgrove said.“People who are experiencing burnout will often report feeling irritable, low in mood, lacking in motivation, and tend to view their work through a lens of cynicism.“People can begin to doubt their capacity to make a meaningful contribution in their role and will describe feeling disengaged and disconnected.“Anecdotally, one of the hallmarks of burnout is daydreaming about leaving, running away, or changing professions altogether.”These are feelings Milly Bannister, the award-winning founder of Gen Z mental health charity, ALLKND, has experienced first-hand.“Running (ALLKND), I’ve had moments where the mission I care so deeply about started feeling distant – like I was just pushing through, rather than leading with purpose,” Bannister said.“That’s a massive red flag.”It is a “major oversimplification”, Bannister argued, to frame burnout as nothing more than being “too tired from working too much.”“It’s not just a physical state … it’s an identity crisis.

When work starts str...