Abstract

This study examined the occupational stress and professional burnout in the banking sector of Pakistan. A total of 237 bank employees (74.3% male and 25.7% female) from different commercial banks participated in the survey. In order to collect data on stress and burnout a self-reported questionnaire was administered to bank employees. Descriptive, correlation and regression statistical tools were used to analyze data. The results identified that workload, working hours, technological problem at work, inadequate salary, time for family and job worries at home are the significant sources of stress in the banking sector. The significant symptoms of burnout as revealed by the results are back pain, extreme tiredness, headache and sleep disturbance. All stressors (Organization, Job, Relationship at work, work environment and family work interface) are significantly correlated to all burnouts (Physical, Psychological and Organizational). All the stress elements significantly predicted burnout in the banking sector of Pakistan. The changing work pattern is creating stress for the bank employees and these stressors are leading to burnout. These results are consistent with the emergent evidence of the impact of stress on the burnout.

Key words: Stress, burnout, ambiguity, conflict, workload, interface, exhaustion, tiredness.