More than two-thirds of executives in corporate America’s top-earning C-suites say they are mulling whether to quit their jobs due to burnout, according to the results of a Deloitte survey released Wednesday.
The survey found that 69% of C-suite executives said they were “seriously considering quitting for a job that better supports their well-being.” That was compared to 57% of regular employees who answered the same way.
Similarly, 56% of C-suite executives said they had already quit a role in the past because it was having a negative impact on their well-being, compared to 48% of employees.
“One reason for the difference may be that compared to employees, executives are often in a stronger financial position that affords them the ability to seek out new career opportunities at their own pace,” Deloitte researchers said in a report on the survey results.
Executive morale appears to have worsened since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic — with 76% of C-suite workers reporting that it had a negative impact on their overall well-being.
But a recognition among executives regarding their own feelings of burnout has yet to translate into an increased rapport with employees experiencing the same issue, the survey showed.
While 91% of executives said they felt that workers believed the company cared about their well-being, a mere 56% of employees indicated they thought executives at their companies were supporting them.
“It’s a notable gap, one that the C-suite must work to address,” the authors of Deloitte’s study added.
Those quitting their jobs surged to record highs in recent months as workers took advantage of a tight labor market to seek out better opportunities. The exodus of workers has become known colloquially as the “Great Resignation.”
About 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs in April, according to federal data. Meanwhile, employers had about 11.4 million job openings that month.
However, experts are warning that the conditions that allowed workers to leave their jobs could soon evaporate as the Federal Reserve hikes interest rates to combat inflation. Employers tend to slash jobs and cut down on budgets during period of tighter economic policy.
Billionaire real estate mogul Stephen Ross suggested that the onset of a recession could drive workers who resisted “return to office” plans to change their tune due to the possibility of layoffs.
Earlier this week, ex-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers warned that the national unemployment rate, which is currently sitting at 3.6%, is likely to rise significantly as the Fed takes steps to lower prices.
Conducted by Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence, the survey measured responses from a total of 2,100 respondents across the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. The survey pool consisted of 1,050 C-suite executives and 1,050 employees.
The survey was conducted by email from February 8 through February 21.
