The Myers-Briggs Company: Flexible working can lead to burnout culture

The State of Remote Work 2019 survey was produced by social media management platform Buffer in partnership with Doist, Hubstaff, Remote-How, RemoteYear, Trello, Workfrom, and We Work Remotely.

Business psychology provider The Myers-Briggs Company has said organisations must take a stand against the “always-on” culture or risk the rise of a disengaged and dissatisfied workforce.

The provider’s 2019 Global Trends Report also reveals that an enforced overlap between work and home life is linked to negative outcomes, including increased stress, decreased performance, low satisfaction with family life, poorer health, reduced life satisfaction and decline in sleep quality.

John Hackston, head of thought leadership, at The Myers-Briggs Company said: “Remote working and modern technology is a great addition to the workplace as it gives employees the power to work how and where they like. However, if not kept in check, the tendency to be ‘always-on’ can have negative repercussions on both the efficiency of organisations and the wellbeing of employees.

“Collaboration and connectivity are two key facets of the modern workplace, and as such, it is up to workplaces to combat this issue as a collective. Self-control has little influence in changing the ‘always-on’ working culture – instead, it requires leaders to lead by personal example. In our research, we found that workers in organisations that did not allow employees to switch off were more stressed and had lower levels if job satisfaction."