A recent report in the Financial Times points to the growing problem of emotional burnout among junior staff in professional services firms (consulting, law and financial firms) due to the prolonged isolation caused by the pandemic. The problem of emotional burnout is not new for workers in the field of professional services, because professional services are characterized by higher rates of burnout in contrast to other types of activity, which is caused by a very large workload and the shortest terms.

The pandemic has exacerbated this problem as work hours have increased and personal social interactions have been minimized, all of which have combined to increase problems with the psychological well-being of professional service workers, especially at the junior level.

So, what does the whole chain of cause and effect look like? Consulting.us experts write that the crisis caused by the pandemic has had an impact on the growing demand for restructuring services, followed by an increase in mergers and acquisitions and private equity, and this, in turn, has had an impact on increasing the work of consultants, financiers and lawyers. In 2020, a record volume of transactions with private investments was recorded, consisting of 8,000 deals, and the growth of bankruptcy with liabilities over $10 million was 16.9% (consulting.us).

The Consulting.us also reports that in March 2021 year, a group of freshman investment analysts Goldman Sachs told management that they work 95 hours a week, which caused concern and insomnia, and employees of one law firm in the United States told the Financial Times that in 2021 year they worked 150% from the planned working hours.
Well, in the context of the remote format of work caused by the pandemic, the rapid pace of work and the heavy workload of professional services workers cannot be balanced by personal social interactions, vacation trips and other activities, and homes for many consultants turned into constantly working offices. As a result, reports of problems with the retention of junior staff came from many professional services companies interviewed by the Financial Times.

In particular, the chairman of the PwC in the UK, Kevin Ellis, told the Financial Times that he was concerned about the issue of staff retention amid the fact that in 2020 3,000 new employees working on a remote work format joined the company.
Although consulting companies make some efforts to combat the emotional burnout of their employees, the fundamental causes of emotional burnout, such as heavy workload and social isolation, cannot be completely eliminated as soon as possible, since one of the reasons is due to the specifics of the activity, and the second - a pandemic.