You know that feeling when you’ve just had enough of drama? When handling wave after wave of crises just takes its toll? That’s crisis fatigue.

The extended period of instability and uncertainty that we call “permacrisis” has had a destabilising impact on many UK organisations over the past few years. From Brexit to the pandemic, from escalating costs to unnerving reports of brutality in recent conflicts, the bad news has been unrelenting and it’s no wonder that so many of us are experiencing some level of burnout.

Defining crisis fatigue

Crisis fatigue implies an ennui or a kind of tiredness when, in fact, it can be far more dramatic and debilitating. It can lead people into addiction or mental illness, or into making perilous decisions that impact their own lives and those of the people around them. It’s a serious problem for individuals, for businesses, and for the broader economy.

Economic modelling by AXA UK and the Centre of Economic and Business Research shows that work-related stress and burnout result in 23.3m sick days a year and cost the UK economy some £28bn annually.

The results are real

Research carried out by 8x8 into the effects of permacrisis observed that crisis fatigue is widely recognised. Fewer than 9% of the people we surveyed said that their colleagues are not suffering from crisis fatigue. That means that a staggering 91% of the workforce is feeling the effects of permacrisis to some degree or other. It’s been accelerating over the past few years as crises layer on top of each other without respite in between.

It certainly has become more of a pressing issue for employees and businesses over recent years. Over half of respondents told us that they and their colleagues feel more fatigued than they did three years ago. Popular trends are picking up a new direction towards simpler, low-stress lifestyles as well.

Among the respondents to our survey, women made up the majority of those who thought that their colleagues were feeling the effects of crisis fatigue more than they were three years ago, along with 64% of those aged 55 or older who felt the same. We found that crisis fatigue was felt more acutely across sectors with a significant frontline or customer-facing component such as healthcare (67%) and education (57%).

Causes of crisis fatigue

It’s important to recognise that crisis fatigue isn’t usually a result of a single factor. It can be caused by a combination of individual impacts and longer-lasting sources of stress—like those we explored in our survey.

The causes can be as seemingly small as the clocks changing or bad weather, and as large as geo-political conflicts, natural disasters, or even the death of a celebrity we care about. They are often things we can do nothing about, which adds to feelings of powerlessness that leads to crisis fatigue.

Over time, these take their toll on an individual’s physical and emotional well-being. In turn, they can be aggregated across a workforce to impact an entire business and its performance.

Handling crisis fatigue

There are ways for individuals and businesses to combat crisis fatigue. On an individual level, people can take action, like setting boundaries to reduce their exposure to crises, such as limiting their news intake or social media interaction. They can share their concerns with colleagues on an informal basis or seek help from professionals.

Responsible employers who recognise the challenges of crisis fatigue are able to provide more targeted help to individuals. These are delivered through various mental health policies, equality and diversity initiatives to eliminate feelings of discrimination or isolation, and by providing employee assistance programs (EAP) to provide support for health, finance, legal, and emotional challenges.

Providing this support has a big impact on the workforce. Mental health support at work in particular makes a huge difference. AXA’s Mind Health Study revealed that people who are supported at work are twice as likely to be happy and almost three and a half times more likely to be flourishing.

Improving communications

Communications technology can play its part as well. Our survey revealed that over 84% of respondents agreed (completely or to some extent) that communications technology at work can help improve staff wellbeing.

Streamlined, connected communications that provide a straightforward, easy way to reach colleagues help reduce frustration. Similarly, using different channels such as chat or messaging can head off lengthy conversations when all that’s needed is a swift answer.

As a result of permacrisis, over half of the organisations we surveyed are using more innovative technology to stay connected. And a similar number see that communications technology is helping organisations to be more prepared for future challenges.

Although they are not a cure-all for the fatigue and trauma that permacrisis can cause, digital technologies are being used by organisations to ameliorate some of the conditions that foster crisis fatigue, enabling organisations to adapt to disruptive macro events and incorporate new technologies like AI and automation.

To see how the permacrisis could be affecting the well-being of people within your organisation, take a look at 8x8's Permacrisis: a view from the IT frontline report.

A final thought

At a personal level, we can all do more to help colleagues who are experiencing crisis fatigue by listening that bit harder, looking out for signals, and being there for them. Above all else, be kind. You don’t know what someone is dealing with right now.

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