Healthcare Tops Silent Burnout Crisis Survey
After a demanding day, it’s normal to feel drained, but for key workers across the UK, high levels of stress have become the norm. A new study reveals that sectors like healthcare and education are under immense pressure, with emotional strain and burnout pushing many professionals to leave their jobs entirely.
Experts at online therapy service manconfidence.co.uk analysed factors such as sickness absence rates, reports of stress, depression, or anxiety, and total monthly search volumes for stress-related queries across various industries.
Each factor was weighted and scored to produce an overall stress index for each profession, with higher scores indicating higher stress levels and, by extension, a greater potential for burnout among workers.
Taking the top spot as the most stressful industry in the UK is the human health and social work sector, scoring 91.88 out of 100 and 649% higher than the least stressful sector, agriculture, forestry, and fishing (12.27). The healthcare sector faces high levels of stress due to demanding work environments, long hours, and the emotional toll of caring for others.
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the human health and social work sector reported one of the highest rates of work-related stress, depression, or anxiety in recent years, which means its professionals have a significantly increased risk of bur
Dr Junaid Hussain, from manconfidence.co.uk, commented on the findings,
“The high-stress levels in healthcare and education reflect the immense pressures faced by professionals who are responsible for the wellbeing and development of others, and show that burnout risk isn’t limited to traditionally ‘high-pressure’ fields, but that it can be deeply rooted in sectors where emotional responsibility and underfunding collide.”
“Interestingly, industries associated with high pressure, such as financial and insurance activities, and manufacturing, didn’t rank as high as the healthcare and educational sectors. The finance industry, in fact, was slightly above the average, while manufacturing received a stress score below the average.”
“This research highlights the varying levels of pressure professionals in the UK are dealing with. Well-being and mental health must soon become a priority across all industries, or we face the risk of sectors breaking down due to fewer young graduates joining these professions and senior professionals changing careers.”
