Boreout, Explained: Why Being Bored at Work Is Just as Concerning as Being Burned Out

Burnout syndrome and its impact on employee health and job retention have recently garnered a lot of attention. However, this syndrome has a lesser-known “alter ego” that’s diametrically opposed but presents an equally harmful effect on workers and organizations: boreout, or bored worker syndrome.

What is boreout? While burnout stems from an excessive workload, long hours, and stress, boreout results from chronic boredom, apathy, and a sense that tasks lack purpose. This leads to a significant loss of motivation, ultimately affecting productivity and mental health. It also increases turnover in the absence of incentives for improvement.

“Boreout is chronic boredom. That sums it up. The experience that the work doesn’t really have any purpose, that there’s no point,” Lotta Harju, assistant professor at Emlyon Business School in France, told the BBC. Occasional boredom is common at work. However, as Harju explains, being chronically bored day after day can signal the need for intervention, as ignoring it may lead to negative consequences.

The same effects as burnout. It’s easy to assume that boredom isn’t stressful. However, studies from the Eastern Mediterranean University in Cyprus show that prolonged apathy over months or years can have mental and physical health effects similar to those caused by burnout, particularly in industries like hospitality and tourism.

A 2014 study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, which surveyed 11,000 employees across 87 Finnish companies, found a direct link between chronic boredom and negative perceptions of health and work. Boreout increased the likelihood of turnover, early retirement, and self-reported issues such as poor health, low workability, and stress symptoms.

Boredom, depression, and anxiety. A study by Mersin University in Turkey, involving 186 participants, revealed a direct link between workplace boreout and increased symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress among participants.

Other findings suggest that increased anxiety and stress often stem from coping strategies employees adopt to combat boredom and feel productive. The impact on mental health is so severe that some companies allegedly use boreout to encourage the resignation of employees they find troublesome.

A taboo topic for companies. Unlike excessive workload, which is widely recognized as an organizational and mental health issue, few employees want to admit they’re bored at work for fear of being fired. However, the study co-authored by Harju found that this denial harms companies. Employees suffering from boredom are less likely to engage in constructive activities for the organization.

Associate professor Fahri Özsungur of Mersin University, who co-authored the study mentioned earlier, noted, “Make minor changes to the job or tasks. Whatever makes work boring, make it enjoyable.” He emphasized that organizations should understand boreout and offer resources to address it, pointing to good leadership as a key factor.

Dissatisfaction on and off the job. The effects of boreout aren’t limited to the work environment: Employees carry the burden into their personal lives.

Özsungur’s research shows that the depressive symptoms employees experience at work, such as dysphoria, self-deprecation, and devaluation of life, often carry over into their personal lives, affecting social relationships and leisure activities.

A constant challenge: The recipe for avoiding boreout. Monotony and lack of engagement at work accelerate boreout. To counter this, employees can seek out new challenges or collaborate on tasks with colleagues. Sometimes, sharing small tasks with colleagues or trying new ways to do the job is enough.

Continuous training is another strategy. It helps employees expand their skills, prevent stagnation, and even pursue new roles within the organization.

Image | Johnny Cohen (Unsplash)

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