Burnout syndrome, also known as burnout, is a growing problem among professionals. So much so that the World Health Organization (WHO) this year recognized it as an international occupational disease, a recognition that unions and workers in Spain are also fighting for, but the Government has yet to respond to these demands.

Due to the escalation of this problem globally, many tech companies are developing software tools to detect digital worker burnout through their interactions on professional platforms such as Slack, Microsoft Teams or email. Although they currently only work in the United States.

How does it work? These tools are installed in the company’s professional software and analyze messages sent by company members through different digital channels. Theoretically, they do this anonymously and work with aggregated data such that company executives can access information about fatigue or discomfort in a team, but not from the specific employee who is suffering from it.

Autumn, one of the companies that develop such software, ensures on its website that the minimum size of the groups the agent works for is four people. At Erudit AI, another company with a similar app, the minimum size is seven workers.

When the system detects signs of burnout among team members, it automatically sends notifications to all of them to try to improve the situation; these notices may include reminders about the mental health benefits the company has or suggestions to take a vacation. The content of these notices depends on the company that needs to offer the solutions. The creators of the software point out that their job is simply to monitor employee discomfort.

Training of algorithms. Erudit’s algorithm was created by a team of psychologists and is based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory, a clinical diagnostic tool used to measure work burnout. The creators of this tool then trained it using random messages from social networks to detect burnout cases based on the Maslach Burnout Inventory measurements.

In the autumn example, software was created from employee responses to different clinical diagnostic questionnaires used to measure depression and anxiety, and then the algorithm was trained through the interaction of various users with artificial intelligence.

Privacy concerns. While these companies insist that their software runs on aggregated data that protects employee anonymity, their sophistication casts doubt on this. Erudit, for example, has a dashboard with real-time data and metrics that allow you to measure burnout levels, employee morale, the impact of a particular event, and most worryingly, engagement level.

In this way, tools sold to help fight burnout, with metrics like commitment level, can also be a source of information to justify layoffs.

Currently, the development of such software is at a very early stage and is only being tested in the United States, at least as far as we know. It was necessary to see how they would comply with the much stricter privacy regulations of the European Union. In the case of employee performance monitoring tools currently used in Spain, the employee’s informed consent is essential, otherwise it is illegal. The requirement for these burnout-sensing apps should be the same.

Image | austin distel