More than 1 in 4 U.S. K-12 workers report being burned out, giving the industry the highest burnout rates in the workforce, according to a new Gallup poll published on Monday.
Teachers were among the respondents who said they were the most burned out.
Forty-four percent of K-12 workers surveyed said they “always” or “very often” feel burned out, with college or university workers following not far behind at 35 percent. Within the group of K-12 employees, 52 percent of teachers reported feeling burned out.
The new data shows that educators identify among the most burned out of all the industries.
While K-12 workers have consistently surveyed as one of the most burned-out demographics in the U.S. workforce, the COVID-19 pandemic intensified the current challenges and introduced new ones, Gallup noted.
When the pandemic initially began, 28 percent of the U.S. workforce reported feeling burned out. Among K-12 workers, 36 percent reported feeling the same, still 8 percentage points higher than the whole workforce.
However, that gap has since nearly doubled, with over 40 percent of K-12 workers saying they are burned out while 30 percent of all other workers say the same.
Female K-12 workers, especially teachers, are respondents who say they are the most burned out, at 47 percent and 55 percent, respectively. The finding is consistent with all workers nationally; however, male K-12 workers are still more burned out than workers in other industries.
The poll comes as U.S. workers face record levels of inflation, with another surge in oil prices last month spurring inflation higher across the U.S. economy. Experts say the country may face a recession soon, possibly within the next two years.
U.S. teachers also face growing concerns over safety within schools, with the most recent shooting at Robb Elementry School in Texas leaving 19 children and two adults dead.
The Gallup poll was conducted from Feb. 3-14 with a total of 12,319 respondents. The poll margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.