As fall rapidly approaches, organizations should pay extra attention to working parents and guardians: According to a survey from The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated, nearly three-quarters (72%) of U.S. employees with children under 18 in the household are anxious about balancing the demands of their job with childcare – including school re-openings, virtual learning, and daycare capacity – in the coming months.
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A new survey from The @WF_Institute at @KronosInc finds working parents are anxious about balancing their jobs and virtual learning while employees without kids may be working too much.
“The Summer Scaries Survey” also found employees without children under 18 may need more encouragement to take time off to mentally and physically rest and recharge: Just over a third (37%) have done so since the start of COVID-19, potentially putting them at risk of burning out.
Conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Workforce Institute at Kronos from July 14-16, “The Summer Scaries Survey” is the first benchmarking poll among 1,226 employed U.S. adults, including approximately half with children under 18, to understand today’s work challenges.
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News Facts
- Under pressure: Nearly three out of four employees with children under 18 in the household (73%) say the events of 2020 are causing them enough stress to affect their work.
- Among all employees, just under two-thirds (62%) agree that 2020’s events – which include the COVID-19 pandemic, social unrest, and upcoming Presidential election – are causing stress which is detrimental to their work performance.
- Both employees working remotely due to COVID-19 (68%) and employees who worked remotely prior to COVID-19 (64%) feel this year’s stress-inducing events are affecting their work at higher rates than employees still going into a physical workplace (55%).
- Two-thirds of 18-34-year-olds (66%) and nearly three-quarters (72%) of employees aged 35-44 say stress caused by 2020’s events is impacting their work, which is higher than older age groups, including 45-54 (60%) and 55+ (49%).
- The brink of burnout: While 58% of employed parents with children under 18 in the household have taken time off from work to mentally and physically rest and recharge during COVID-19, they’re doing better than colleagues without kids.
- Only slightly more than a third (37%) of U.S. employees without children under 18 in the household say they have taken time off to rest and recharge during the pandemic, a reminder for organizations to encourage all employees to exercise more self-care.
- Those who are going into a workplace – mainly frontline and essential workers – are less likely to have taken time off over the last five months to rest and recharge (39%) than those who currently work remotely due to COVID-19 (49%) and those who always work remotely (55%).
- There are generational differences in time-off trends, too: while 58% of employed 18-34-year-olds and 62% of employed 35-44-year-olds have taken time off to mentally and physically rest and recharge since March, less than two in five (39%) employed 45-54-year-olds and only about a quarter (24%) of employees aged 55+ have done so.
- Safety – and contact tracing – are paramount: Whether an employee has children in the household or not, the majority seem to be concerned with COVID-19 infiltrating their workplace.
- Nearly nine out of 10 employees (86%) believe their employer has an obligation to notify those who may have been in contact with a coworker who tested positive for COVID-19, including 89% of those who must go into a physical workplace, 86% of parents with children under 18 in the household, and virtually everyone in a high risk age group (55+, 95%).
- Nearly eight out of 10 employees (78%) say they would not want to risk going into or returning to their workplace if the number of COVID-19 cases was rising in their region. Though, the high number is driven by employees working remotely specifically due to the pandemic (88%), who are far more likely to be concerned about returning to a physical workplace than those who are currently going to a workplace (66%).
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