Social demands and resources predict job burnout and engagement profiles among Finnish employees

Katja Upadyaya* & Katariina Salmela-Aro Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland CONTACT Katja Upadyaya katja.upadyaya@helsinki.fi Supplemental data for this article can be accessed http://dx.doi.org10.1080/10615806.2020.1746285ABSTRACTBackground and Objectives: Latent profiles of employees’ job burnout (e.g., exhaustion, cynicism, feelings of inadequacy) and work engagement (e.g., energy, dedication, absorption) were examined. Moreover, the role of social work-related (multicultural, interpersonal, and project work demands) and personal demands (relationship demands) and social work-related resources (servant leadership, team climate) and personal resources (resilience, self-efficacy) in predicting the latent profiles were examined.Design: This study is a part of an Occupational Health Study in which 766 employees participated twice.Methods: The results were analyzed using latent profile analysis.Results: Two longitudinal profiles of burnout and engagement could be identified, namely high engagement (84% of the participants) and increasing burnout (16%) profiles. Employees who experienced high work-related social resources (servant leadership) and high personal resources (resilience, self-efficacy) were more likely to belong to the high engagement group than to the increasing burnout group. Employees who experienced high work-related social demands (multicultural, interpersonal, and project work demands) and personal social demands (relationship demands) more often belonged to the increasing burnout group.Conclusions: Social resources may help in promoting employees’ job engagement, whereas social demands are often associated with increasing burnout symptoms.