Burnout during the COVID pandemic: a case of the social services sector in Latvia

Abstract

The paper analyses the results of an online survey of 443 social services sector employees carried out in October and November 2020 in Latvia. The survey was aimed to measure the impact of the pandemic on the social services sector, i.e. how social services were delivered, whether restrictions imposed have any effect on a given service (form, quality, quantity) as well as how social services sector organizations and employees coped with the pandemic both at organizational and psychological levels. A short version of the burnout measure developed by Ayala Malach-Pines was used to estimate the burnout level among social services sector employees. The survey results indicate that about one third of the surveyed employees are exposed to a high risk of burnout. Contrary to other studies, burnout has no relationship with the number of clients (a proxy variable for workload) served in a given institution. Burnout is more likely associated with factors related to the methodological, technical support and overall working conditions in one’s organization.