Why the Burnout Talk in School?

Upon arriving on the Republic Polytechnic campus, we were greeted by a giant bear. Though the sight of it calmed my nerves a little, I was still somewhat nervous; this was to be my first talk about burnout to a younger crowd in an academic institution.

I am accustomed to giving talks about stress and burnout in companies and in the community, but this was definitely a first for me.

I deeply believe that dialogue about burnout and how we can overcome it should go upstream. Too many people enter the workforce not knowing what burnout is, let alone are capable of detecting if they are indeed a victim of it.

After all, recent news coverage has indicated how burnout is becoming an issue not just for the older workers, but the younger workers too. This Business Insider Singapore article last month, for example, showed how half of our millennials are leaving jobs due to mental health challenges such as burnout.

50% of millennials and 75% of Gen Zers have left a job because of mental-health reasons…” ~ Study by Mind Share Partners, SAP, and Qualtrics, Published in the Harvard Business Review

An Associated Press article also spoke of ways burnout hurts millennial’s wallets.

Additionally, in my interactions with others on burnout, some have also shared with me how student burnout may also be a reality on the campuses.

And so, even though bringing talks on stress management and burnout to the campuses is a first for me, I trust the upstream work is needed to help equip our younger generations; helping them to thrive, not just at their future workplaces, but also currently in their campuses and beyond.

In the end, we were glad that the talk was well-received by the students; some shared how they appreciated how the talk helped them to identify if they are burned out while others found the handles to deal with stress and burnout useful.

We sincerely thank the staff of the Republic Polytechnic’s Student Care Centre and Office of Student Support for caring for their students so much to also provide me with the opportunity to share this with them last week.

Do you want to build mental resilience and prepare your students to thrive at work and beyond? Connect with us today to see how we can journey together on this.

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James Lim

James is the Lead Thrive-Synergist & Founder of Emmaus Strategies; a social enterprise that “fuels good”. It does this through Mental Well-Being programmes for individuals and organizations, as well as Strategic Volunteer Partnerships consultancy and training for non-profits.