Since the pandemic property market boom, recent research by YourBusinessNumber has disclosed that one in three property professionals have taken time off work due to fatigue as a heavy workload and a lack of boundaries between their personal and professional lives cause them burnout – some requiring over a week to recover.

Recovery needed

The survey of UK property professionals commissioned by YourBusinessNumber discovered that

30% of those working in the industry have taken time off work in the last two years, not due to illness, but fatigue and burnout.

For a quarter, only a day was required before they were back at work, whilst 25% were also just taking two days of recovery time.

However, as many as 17% took five to seven days, with a further 13% stating that they were out of action for over a week.

Cooked to medium rare

Fortunately, the good news is that this occurrence was fairly limited, with almost half (48%) reporting that they only burn out once a year, while 28% took time off to recoup twice in a single year.

Only 17% have stated that they burn out three to five times a year and just 7% reported more than five time a year.

The culprit for this occurrence seems to be a heavy workload, often leading to working longer days, along with a lack of clear boundaries between their personal and professional lives.

Workplace expectations such as hitting sales targets also ranked high as one of the driving factors of workplace fatigue, as did dealing with clients.

George Lineker, co-founder of YourBusinessNumber, commented: “It’s only really now that mental health within the workplace is getting the attention it requires and one of the biggest issues faced is fatigue or burnout.”

“Whether it’s a mammoth workload, hitting high performance targets or having no clear switch off button when you do finally make it home, people across the nation are all suffering due to the same work induced stress and expectation.”

Lineker concluded: “This can have a serious impact on their wellbeing and the property industry is no different. Like many professions, the pandemic has caused a considerable increase in the workload of the average property professional and, as a result, one in three are having to take time off as they’ve reached breaking point.”