“A major finding is that 58% of workers agree feeling burnt out from their work in the last three months,” it said in its Employee Wellness Report 2022.

It added that those in the 18-35 age group were 20% more likely to feel burnt out.

It also said employees with poor work-life balance over the last three months were 45% more likely to have felt burnt out.

“Those who felt burnt out were 9% more likely to feel that their productivity was low. Employees with poor productivity were 278% more likely to feel a poor sense of work-life balance,” it said, highlighting a vicious cycle which erodes workers’ mental wellbeing.

The report also found that 50% of employees felt that their companies were “very supportive” of their mental health, but 50% of workers still felt uncomfortable discussing mental health issues in the workplace, fearing it would lead to repercussions.

It said employees who rated their employer’s commitment to wellness as “good” stated they were 32% more likely to be loyal to the company.

“With many employees feeling the aftermath of these tumultuous years in the forms of mental health issues and burnout, the workplace needs to adapt to create a working environment that is able to retain and attract top talent,” Employment Hero co-founder and CEO Ben Thompson said.

Half of the workers also said that the Covid-19 pandemic had decreased the importance they placed on their career, signalling that more workers would be seeking employment in a different industry or move to a different way of working.

“The past couple of years have been eye-opening for a lot of us, so it’s unsurprising that priorities have changed for many,” said Thompson.

The report analysed data collected from 1,016 Malaysians between the ages of 18 and over 65 across various industries, with the majority (80%) being in full-time employment.