Caregiver burnout isn’t just another trending buzzword; it’s actively hemorrhaging talent from your workforce. With 65 percent of working parents actively experiencing burnout, organizations can no longer afford to treat this as a peripheral concern.

In the latest episode of Wellbeing At Work, a podcast by Workplace Options (WPO), a TELUS Health company, digital marketing intern Emily Morgan sits down with learning solutions project manager Joni Wright to discuss the growing burden of caregiver stress in the workplace and how organizations can step in before it’s too late.

Read an excerpt from their conversation below:

Emily: To get us started, I was wondering if you could talk a bit more about caregiver burnout—what it is, and why it’s a problem in so many workplaces?

Joni: Of course—and before I talk about what caregiver burnout is, I want to acknowledge that caregiving comes in many different forms. When people hear the word, “caregiver,” they think “parent,” caring for a child. But caregiving extends far beyond that. It can mean raising a child—whether they need additional support or not—caring for an aging parent, supporting a spouse or partner through a chronic illness, or coordinating care for a sibling, grandparent, or other loved one. 

Caregiver burnout occurs when the demands of providing care becomes physically, emotionally, and mentally overwhelming, especially when individuals are also balancing the responsibilities of their careers and personal lives. The constant juggling of work commitments, caregiving duties, and everyday tasks can lead to chronic stress, exhaustion, and burnout.

This has become a significant workplace issue because millions of employees are caregivers in addition to their professional roles. When caregiver burnout goes unaddressed, it can affect an employee’s wellbeing, productivity, engagement, attendance, and retention. As caregiver responsibilities continue to grow across generations, more workplaces are recognizing the need to support employees who are balancing these competing demands.

Emily: Absolutely. Like you said, we see that caregivers now make up a large portion of many workplaces, so it’s important for organizations to act because it not only impacts individual wellbeing but work performance as well.

Which brings me to my next question, which is why is caregiver burnout prevention so important for organizations? What would you say to those who see it as the individual’s responsibility?

Joni: Great question.

Caregiver burnout prevention is important to organizations because burnout doesn’t just impact the individual. Like you said, it affects the entire workplace. When caregivers are overwhelmed, it can lead to decreased productivity, lower engagement, increased absenteeism, and difficulty meeting deadlines or delivering quality service.

As a result, team members often have to absorb additional responsibilities, which can create further stress and strain across the workplace. In more severe cases, burnout can contribute to employees taking short- or long-term disability leave or leaving the workforce altogether, resulting in lost expertise, increased recruitment costs, and disruption to business continuity.

For those who view this as the individual’s responsibility, I would challenge that perspective. Caregiving doesn’t exist in a vacuum. While caregiving happens outside the workplace, employees don’t leave those responsibilities at the door when they start their workday. For example, a caregiver may spend the morning helping an aging parent get to medical appointments, then come back and spend the day meeting project deadlines, only to then spend the evening coordinating medications, meals, or school activities.

The stress from one role influences the other.

When workplace pressures increase, it can make caregiving more difficult. And when caregiving demands increase, it can affect employees’ wellbeing, focus, and energy. So the demands of work and caregiving are interconnected, and workplace pressures can amplify the personal stress caregivers already carry.

Employers may not be able to change a person’s caregiving situation, but they do have the opportunity to be part of the solution by creating a supportive culture that helps them balance both responsibilities. By offering flexible work arrangements, training, and targeted resources the individual, team, and organization all benefit.

Emily: Absolutely. And I’m glad you mentioned training because I know you have a lot of expertise in that area, so the next question I actually wanted to ask you is, how do WPO’s Global Learning Solutions help anticipate and prevent caregiver burnout? And how have you seen these trainings actively minimize stress?

Joni: Love this question.

So I’ve been with this team for 11 years now, so I have seen how a proactive approach can help employees and leaders recognize, manage, and prevent caregiver burnout before it reaches a crisis point.

Through our personal and professional development training programs, we provide practical tools to help individuals manage stress, adapt to caregiving demands, and maintain a healthy balance between their career and caregiving commitments.

How it works is like this…

Interested in hearing the rest of their conversation? Tune in now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or by visiting our podcasts page.