Comparative Analysis of Burnout Levels across Industries Pre- and Post-COVID-19 Pandemic: A Literature Review

Burnout is a major occupational health issue that affects employee well-being, work performance, and organisational sustainability. It is commonly reflected through emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and reduced personal accomplishment. Although burnout existed across industries before the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic intensified workplace stressors and transformed the nature of burnout. This review examines burnout levels across healthcare, education, IT/corporate, manufacturing, and services/hospitality sectors in the pre- and post-COVID-19 context. The study is based on secondary literature, including peer-reviewed journal articles, books, government reports, and institutional publications. Relevant studies were reviewed and compared sector-wise to identify changes in burnout drivers, dimensions, and outcomes. The review finds that burnout increased after the pandemic across all sectors, but the impact was not uniform. Healthcare and frontline service sectors were most severely affected due to health risks, moral distress, staffing shortages, customer aggression, and emotional demands. Education experienced burnout through digital teaching and institutional pressure, while IT/corporate employees faced remote work fatigue and blurred work-life boundaries. Manufacturing was affected by labour shortages, productivity pressure, supply-chain disruption, and job insecurity. The review concludes that post-pandemic burnout has become a systemic organisational issue requiring mental health support, workload management, role clarity, supportive leadership, and sustainable work policies.