Burnout
Any other millennials dealing with some level of burnout?
I've been working in an academic research unit for the last five years. We're soft-funded, like most research centers in academia, which means if there are no active grants, there is no funding to keep people on. It's never been easy, but since the start of the new administration it feels like our spirit has been absolutely crushed. We're losing people and the remaining team is having to divide their responsibilities. It feels like a private sector job now. "Do more with less..." is the single, resounding implication of 2025 and 2026.
I just feel like I've already been stretched as far as I can and am now being asked to take on even more. I'm tired of losing teammates to downsizing and tired of working harder than is reasonable to ask to try to prevent further layoffs. It all just feels so ridiculous and I feel like I've lost all the drive that I used to be proud of over the last year or so.
I feel like I'm growing into someone I don't want to be. I've always been thoughtful and sincere and hardworking and lately I've just been feeling so venomous.
Anyway, I've talked to leadership about this and am taking what steps I can to recoup but wanted to take the temp of the room here to see how everyone else is dealing with this. On a burnout scale of "None" to "I am quitting tomorrow to hike the Appalachian Trial" where is everyone?