Study: Increased workloads lead to productivity loss
Productivity loss and burnout are common among professionals with heavy workloads, especially for those with physically intensive jobs like professional athletes.
According to a new study published in the Journal of Sports Economics, National Football League running backs with heavier workloads tend to have higher productivity loss over time. However, these players also enjoy longer careers, which may indicate that hiring decisions are partially based on status bias or that general managers tend to sign players based on how recognizable or famous they are in the league, despite their productivity loss.
“We’re looking at whether employer decision-making, with respect to workload allocation, has the ability to reduce a worker’s human capital,” said Steven Salaga, an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and primary author of the study. “We found that the more workload a player is assigned by their employer, the more their productivity drops the following year.”