Psychologists Call Losing Sense in Work the Problem of the Century

Losing sense in the professional activity is becoming “the scourge of the century”, according to the newspaper Le Matin Dimanche. The edition refers to the results of sociological research conducted in association with Federation of Swiss Psychologists, which shows that more than 80% out of 480 interviewed experts claimed that in their opinion the Swiss “suffer at work” more often in the past 10 years.

“An employee is undergoing the growing pressure, he has less and less time and must report on his or her efficiency”, explains the psychotherapist Jenny Humber. “Personal interactions are replaced with emails and documents. Creativity is suppressed by the protocol.”

In his part, the specialist in labor relations Loran Brewer sees the root of the problem in the fact that in the modern world the sense of being is crucial for a person due to “the easy access to information”. “If people just bought rice before, now where it was produced, by whom and in what conditions has a great meaning for them”, he explains, adding “a global consciousness grows stronger, creating new paradoxes in all spheres.”

Experts point out that “suffering at work” has different forms and one of the most widespread forms is the extreme physical and mental exhaustion – “burning out”. According to the psychologist Catherine Vase, “the strain of the organism is such that it breaks down.” What also affects an employee’s general state and professional performance negatively is the boring nature of the professional activity which doesn’t correspond to his or her qualifications and aspirations. Unlike “burning out” in this case the person continues working but often changes his or her job in the end.

Researchers point out the emergence of decreasing work efficiency phenomenon owing to the fact that the employee is disappointed in his or her work and doesn’t see any sense in it.

As Catherine Vase admits, this state can affect people who are financially sound, well-educated and take leading posts. They don’t see sense in their work any longer and start taking it as an absurd one. Since people around still see them as “successful”, they have difficulties sharing their problems. They want to change their profession to a more practical one, where the results will be clearly seen, for instance, take up craft or social work.

However, as the psychologist Marion Aufsesser warns, “the danger for a banker who decided to become a brewer” lies in the risk of bankruptcy because the real difficulties of such professional “conversion” are often underestimated. Most psychologists advise following “the principle of realism” in these cases, keeping the balance between your own wishes and chances for success in your new area. According to Aufsesser, with the increase of this problem in the modern society employers should “let their employees express their wishes”. In her opinion, employees should have an opportunity to satisfy their personal requests and the heads must support them.