A cross-sectional investigation of prevalence of occupational burnout in Saudi aviation industry

Abstract

Achievement of excellence in the aviation industry largely depends on a highly effective workforce. In the management of organizational behavior, the well-being of employees is essential in the workforce and organization’s outcomes. Despite the roles of occupational burnout in well-being and productivity, not much exist in the global literature that includes the Saudi aviation industry. Our study was designed as a survey to examine the prevalence of occupational burnout in the aviation industry. It involved a sample size of 1051 from different work groups in the industry. Questionnaires that required information on socio-demographics and contained the Maslach and Jackson’s burnout inventory that was adapted for the study were utilized for data collection. A prevalence of 41.7% of occupational burnout was found and it existed by age and work group differences in the sample. The findings are indicative of burnout as a near epidemic that has significant potential to negatively influence employees’ productivity in the industry. Enlarging the scope and inclusion of some other dispositional variables that could enhance impact analysis of occupational burnout may be considered in future researches. Nevertheless, the study has provided empirical basis to raise awareness of occupational burnout for management, scholars and practitioners. It is expected to guide interventions that promote employees’ well-being, and also help to expand the global literature on aviation industry data.

Determining the Best Approach: Comparing and Contrasting the Impact of Different Coping Strategies on Work-Related Stress and Burnout Among Saudi Commercial Pilots

“…Upon comparing our study results, it was evident that 25.63% of pilots encountered work-related burnout, displaying a moderate or higher severity level [ 25 ]. Additionally, the prevalence of burnout within the Saudi aviation industry was reported to be 40.1% [ 26 ]. The dissimilarity in prevalence can be attributed to the differences in the populations surveyed in both studies.…”

Navigating the Shadows of Others’ Traumas: An In-Depth Examination of Secondary Traumatic Stress and Psychological Distress among Rescue Professionals

“…This interdependence underscores the imperative of understanding their combined influence, especially within the challenging and high-stakes context of rescue operations. Given the unique aspects and trauma exposures inherent to rescue work, a robust exploration of this association is not just academically significant but also holds potential implications for interventions and support systems tailored to this professional group and may extend to other occupations where employees are vulnerable to extreme stressful situations [47].…”

Untitled

“…Problems also occurred in the area of emotional exhaustion, which according to Ch. Maslach (Ekore et al, 2020;Schröder, 2008), is one of the symptoms of occupational burnout. In the research group 40% of the respondents stated that they "sometimes" were lacking the will to work and felt overworked, whereas 16% of the respondents indicated "often" as their answer.…”

“…A different approach to the issue of professional exhaustion was introduced by Ch. Masloch (Ekore et al, 2020;Fairbrother and Warn, 2003;Fedai et al, 2017) who on the basis of a number of studies, distinguished three factors of burnout (Fernet et al, 2010):…”