Financial stress linked to burnout and job dissatisfaction

Stress from work can often leave people feeling tired and overwhelmed. Anxiety in other parts of life could make this even worse, according to a new study from the University of Georgia.

Burnout is a familiar, exhausting feeling to many people. While it's usually associated with work, outside factors like financial stress may play a role, too.

The researchers surveyed over 200 full-time employees in the United States and found that current worries about money management may increase levels of burnout and reduce job satisfaction. This hints that stress in one aspect of life can bleed into others.

Camden Cusumano, lead author and doctoral candidate at UGA's College of Family and Consumer Sciences, drew a medical parallel: just as injury in one part of the body could lead to pain in another, personal financial stress can manifest in someone's work performance.

Financial well-being might impact burnout

There are three major signs of burnout: The first is depersonalization, where you feel detached from yourself or those around you. The second is emotional exhaustion, often leaving people feeling sluggish. And lastly, there's reduced personal accomplishment, where your achievements feel less satisfying.

All three of these aspects mesh into a feeling that can leave employees tired and disengaged from their work. And while a higher workload or lack of autonomy could be to blame, researchers wanted to see if factors outside of work had a role in both burnout and job satisfaction.

Through an online survey, 217 full-time employees voiced their experiences with burnout and how satisfied they are with their jobs. They also answered questions related to current money-management stress and how they felt about their financial security in the future - both key components of financial well-being.

Based on the employees' responses, those who were more stressed over current money management had a higher rate of burnout, and thus, lower job satisfaction.

We call them different life domains. There's the work domain, there might be the family domain, things like that. But sometimes there's spillover from one to the other. My finances might impact the way I'm feeling about the stress in my family, or if I'm working long hours, that might cause some conflict with my family as well."

Camden Cusumano, lead author and doctoral candidate, UGA's College of Family and Consumer Sciences

Future financial concerns may also play a role in job satisfaction. If a worker is feeling stressed about their current position, believing their financial situation may improve could improve their views on their job.

"Current money management stress is associated with job satisfaction indirectly through burnout." said Cusumano. "And expected future financial security has a direct association with job satisfaction."

Easing financial worry could improve job satisfaction

So how can burnout be dealt with? The researchers stated that employees can help ease their worries by staying aware of sources of financial stress in their lives. They compared financial well-being to a resource and noted that conserving those resources may help ease anxieties.

Employers can also play their part in assisting their employees and increasing job satisfaction.

"Some companies are actually providing financial counseling to some of their employees," said Cusumano. "They're paying attention to how finances can really permeate different areas of life."

Programs that focus on current financial stress could help improve burnout, while emphasizing how someone's job can benefit future financial security may improve job satisfaction directly. If employers keep these differences in mind, that could help them design programs that truly benefit their workers.

The study was published in the Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health and co-authored by Dee Warmath of UGA's College of Family and Consumer Sciences.