by Jenny von Zepelin and Monika Dunkel 20.08.2024, 17:00 11 min.
Constant crises, stress and bureaucracy exhaust employees and slow down companies. But how can we break out of paralysis and lethargy?
Many people have sensed and suspected it, and now there are figures to back it up: one in two people (49.4 percent) say they have less energy today than they did three years ago. This is the result of a study by the Hamburg Pinktum Institute, which surveyed employees of all ages and levels of the hierarchy. Everyone is affected equally. Another worrying finding: one in three working people in Germany lacks the energy for their daily work.
Where does this come from? What robs people of their energy? Almost a third of those surveyed see work itself as a drain on energy. Other stress factors are much more serious: political issues, the multitude of crises, the country’s economic situation. If all of this is now taking its toll on each individual to the point that motivation and performance are dwindling, that is an alarm signal for employers.
Capital has set out to trace the symptoms of the lack of energy – and to find measures and means to combat it: at the pharmaceutical company Bayer, the car manufacturer VW, the Gothaer health insurance company and the drive specialist Marantec.
