Why making promotion after a burnout is like boiling the ocean

Abstract

Recent studies have explored hiring discrimination as an obstacle to former burnout patients. A substantial share of the burned-out working population, however, returns to the same employer, where they face an even more severe aftermath of burnout syndrome: promotion discrimination. To our knowledge, we are the first to directly address this issue. More specifically, we conducted a vignette experiment with 406 managers, testing the potential of the main burnout stigma theoretically described in the literature as potential mediators of promotion discrimination. Estimates reveal that compared to employees without an employment interruption, former burnout patients are assigned a 34 per cent lower promotion propensity score. Moreover, negative perceptions are associated with a history of job burnout. Four of these perceptions, namely lower leadership capacities, stress tolerance, abilities to take on an exemplary role, and chances of finding another job explain almost half the burnout effect on promotion propensities.