Over 54% of knowledge workers in India feel burned out, 65% plan to switch jobs in 2023: Slack study

More than half (54%) of knowledge workers in India have felt burned out due to work in the last 12 months and around 65% are planning to switch jobs in 2023, shows a new study by Slack, published on Wednesday.

The percentage of knowledge professionals looking to switch jobs in 2023 is higher (71%) in the case of young professionals, the study found.

Knowledge workers are people working with data, using their intelligence, for instance, IT workers, engineers, scientists, lawyers, editors etc.

Workers at smaller organisations (59%) with under 199 employees feel a lot more burnout than their counterparts working at large organisations (48%) with over 1,500 employees.

The findings of the study are based on interviews with 2,000 Indian knowledge workers working at companies with over 100 employees.

The study also delves into what workers want from their employees and found that 81% of knowledge workers want their job to be more meaningful and have a larger impact. Workers also want companies to show more trust in their capabilities --71% said that they want to be trusted to do their job even when they are working remotely.

After Covid-19 outbreak and the shift to remote work, many companies installed performance monitoring tools on the work PCs of employees to track their working hours and productivity.

Further, the study found that for 41% of knowledge workers, the financial success of an organisation is a top priority, while 50% rated teamwork and collaboration as key factors for choosing to work at an organisation.

A large section of workers is not satisfied with the leadership. The study found that 71% of knowledge workers said that their opinion about the leadership team has changed in the last 12-18 months. Around 61% reported that their leadership team is not flexible, while 47% feel that there is a disconnect between leaders and employees. According to the report, 84% of workers at companies where top leaders do not communicate well are likely to switch jobs in the next 12 months.

“The last two years have litmus tested many aspects of workplace resilience, and an organisation’s ability to remain productive, and attract and retain talent,” said Rahul Sharma, Country Manager, India, Slack.

Sharma pointed out that organisations are looking to avoid quiet quitting by employees or great resignation. He noted that organisations need to have the “right digital infrastructure” to stay productive and efficient while delivering a “great employee experience”. He said that leaders need to work on their soft skills.