The term caregiver, which has now become part of our vocabulary, means “to take care of someone.” The action implied by this concept identifies a considerable burden that is now borne by a growing number of workers.
The average age of the population is increasing (ISTAT indicates that it has exceeded 45 years of age), the number of births is decreasing (in 2017 there was a historic low of -2% compared to 2016), and lifestyles have undoubtedly changed due to the rapid evolution of the reality around us.
How many caregiver workers are there today?
According to recent research conducted by Harvard, the number of people caring for a family member with problems is constantly increasing and today, in the United States, it is 73% of the total workforce.
It is increasingly common for family caregivers to find themselves facing a completely new situation that, in the long run, is almost impossible to manage without outside help.
Daily commitments cannot be stopped with a magic snap of the fingers but, on the contrary, they add to all the worries and anxieties arising from situations of a certain magnitude.
What is certain is that these negative emotions inevitably affect the work activities of caregivers.
Your role at work seems to become increasingly burdensome, and your thoughts during the hours spent in front of the computer or during your shift are mostly about what might be happening outside.
Reflections, worries, apprehensions: how can you organize your day around the burden of care you carry on your shoulders?
These situations create inevitable discomfort, so much so that family caregivers are increasingly abandoning their roles in the company, either temporarily or even permanently, in order to be able to focus more on balancing their lives with caring for their loved ones.
The problem today is that these needs are increasingly not being thoroughly mapped out, creating discontent and difficulties for workers and visible and invisible problems for the company itself.
The needs of workers do not match the services offered by companies. As a result, workers are either unaware of the services available to them, due to poor communication, or they find themselves faced with services that they consider useless for improving their quality of life.
According to the aforementioned research, serious consequences arise from the company's disinterested and ignorant (in the true sense of the word) behavior:
increased stress at work, which can cause burnout in the long term;
decreased productivity due to people's lack of concentration during working hours;
high turnover, which inevitably leads to a significant loss of talent within the company.