Labor Conditions Research Articles

Characterization of VOCs emissions and associated health risks inherent to the packaging and printing industries in Shandong Province, China

Comprehensive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emission control is imperative to decreasing occupational health risks and environmental impact of the packaging and printing industries. In this work, we investigated the VOCs emission characteristics and concentrations of individual contaminants generated by the packaging and printing industries, with regard to various categories, processes, and geographic regions. VOCs emissions, ozone formation potential (OFP), and associated health risks were assessed at 10 representative packaging and printing firms across several cities in Shandong Province, China. Plastic packaging enterprises had the greatest levels of unorganized VOCs emissions, consisting predominantly of oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs), followed by alkanes and halocarbons. From metal and paper packaging enterprises, OVOCs, alkanes, and aromatics were significant components of unorganized VOCs emissions. Aromatics, halocarbons, and OVOCs contributed significantly to OFP in workshops. The potential carcinogenic risk associated with VOCs in the packaging and printing industries was not significant. However, according to the findings in this study, the workshop environment may provide a comparatively elevated non-carcinogenic risk attributable to ethyl acetate, isopropanol, acrolein, 1,1,2-Trichloroethane, 1,2-Dichloropropane, and naphthalene exposure. In particular, the endocrine-disrupting and genetic toxic effects caused by benzene, toluene, styrene, and naphthalene should not be overlooked. Thus, it is essential to provide precedence to the working environment conditions of workshop laborers, while also undertaking scientific and systematic measures to mitigate the detrimental impacts of VOCs on the environment and human welfare.

Causes of child labor and working conditions in Ethiopia: evidence from temporary inter-rural child labor migrants from Sekela district

Child labor migration is a critical issue that has received limited attention from academic and policy domains in many developing countries. This article analysis the causes of child labor migration and working conditions at the destination of temporary inter-rural child labor migration from Sekela district, Northwest Ethiopia. Mixed research methods is employed. Quantitative data is collected from randomly selected 204 respondents engaged in child labor migration. Focus group discussion, informal conversational interviews, and observation are also undertaken to gather qualitative data. Most child labor migrants participate in child labor migration due to localized economic constraints, which are reflected through a desire to have modern goods and cloth, food scarcity, and resource degradation. Also, the expansion of commercial farms at destination areas directly or indirectly due to the globalized market indicates that migrant children’s local labor cannot be delinked from material realities created by both national and international economic policy. The income from child labor migration supports children and their households’ livelihood, though it is at the expense of children’s education as well as exposure to worse working conditions at their destination in terms of exploitation, underpayment, malnutrition, breaching of an agreement by employers, and harassment. Hence, to exploit the benefits and minimize the risks, balanced measures should be taken at the origin and destination. Education programs should be supportive in increasing food productivity and assisting households to diversify their means of income by allowing them to participate in non-farm activities. It is also essential to the establishment of support groups in migrant destination places and the expansion of labor inspectorates who continuously supervise the safety of child labor migrants.

Locked In: Reindustrialisation and the Production of Multiple Marginalities in an Old Mining Town of Hungary

AbstractThis paper aims to unfold how peripheral reindustrialisation in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) produced multiple marginalities in local spaces. Relying on a cultural political economic (CPE) approach, we analyse how the imaginary of reindustrialisation encompassed the discourses on development and the strategies and practices of powerful agents of economic restructuring in an old mining town of Hungary, which entailed new dimensions and depths of poverty. By discussing the changing labour, housing, and environmental conditions of the local poor, we relate structural changes to the changing conditions of social reproduction and local history, and highlight how the new economic trajectory produced marginalised spaces within a dynamic region. In this way, we also extend CPE‐guided research more to the realms of social reproduction and ethnic social relations to get a more fine‐grained understanding of inequalities rooted in peripheral industrialisation and scrutinise prevailing narratives of economic development in CEE.

Aquí Entre Nos (Just Between Us): Engagement of Hotel Housekeepers During Sociopolitical and Environmental Change

Abstract: Background: Aquí Entre Nos (Between Us) is a community-based participatory research project to engage rural, ethno-racially diverse hotel housekeepers in a right to work state during a time of national anti-immigrant policy, wildfires and emergence of a global pandemic. Objectives: We aimed to (1) build trust and social support with the hotel housekeeping community, (2) learn about the occupational health, safety, and workers’ rights challenges, strategies, and solutions held by workers, and (3) develop a workforce-driven research and action agenda to improve labor and health conditions. Methods: Participatory mixed methods rooted in popular education are described to form an advisory board and engage the workforce. Lessons Learned: Trusted relationships built through community organizing around immigration, housing, and minimum wage were critical to engage and drive a worker centered research agenda. Conclusions: Despite challenges, housekeeper advisors defined a research agenda that addressed immediate-and long-term needs of the workforce.

Robotics applications, inclusive employment and income disparity

Robots are outstanding representatives of contemporary high-end intelligent equipment and high-tech. Widespread industrial robot adoption has profound implications for employment quality now and in the future. This study utilizes international and Chinese data to estimate provincial robot density. Fixed-effects models reveal industrial robot adoption improves labor conditions, especially for low-skilled and agricultural workers, indicating inclusive employment gains. However, quantile regression demonstrates an inverted U-shaped relationship between robot adoption and employment quality, suggesting diminishing marginal returns. Further analysis uncovers rising income inequality from robot adoption, shown by increased labor income variation. The study aims to inform policies promoting quality employment in the digital era while optimizing income distribution as automation reshapes work. Understanding robotics' nuanced impact on employment and inequality is critical for evidence-based policymaking. Key findings show robots presently boost job quality for vulnerable workers but may also widen income gaps. More research is needed on sustainable policies maximizing the benefits of automation while ensuring broadly shared prosperity. As automation diffuses through the economy, policymakers must carefully balance productivity with equity. This study contributes robust data analysis illuminating the complex interactions between robot adoption, employment gains, and income distribution. The results highlight the need for calibrated policies targeting inclusive growth as automation transforms the labor market. Further research should explore these dynamics across countries and industries. With thoughtful governance, robotics can raise productivity and living standards for all.

АНАЛИЗ ПОКАЗАТЕЛЕЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ ТРУДА НА ПРЕДПРИЯТИЯХ С ХИМИЧЕСКИМ ФАКТОРОМ ПРОИЗВОДСТВЕННОЙ СРЕДЫ

The article is devoted to the analysis of labor organization indicators in sectors of the na-tional economy with a chemical factor of the production environment. The concepts of working conditions and the chemical factor of production are considered. The spheres of activity for which the impact of the chemical factor of production on workers is most characteristic are identified. Such indi-cators as labor productivity; the state of labor conditions and safety at the enterprise, the level of occupational morbidity; the amount of wages and its dynamics; the state of labor discipline; the availability of state guarantees and compensation to employees are studied. The most problematic issues of labor organization have been identified, and directions for the subsequent development of measures to minimize them have been identified.

Progressions in Agriculture and Farming Practices: Indispensable in leading to Up-gradations of Rural Communities

Within rural communities, individuals are contributing efficiently in promoting better livelihoods opportunities. The participation of the individuals in agriculture and farming practices is regarded as one of the primary occupations of the individuals, belonging to rural communities. The agricultural labourers and farmers are making use of traditional methods and procedures in doing their jobs. Furthermore, there are agricultural labourers and farmers who are making use of modern, scientific and innovative methods and procedures. These are regarded as essential in leading to an increase in productivity and profitability. Furthermore, it is vital for individuals to hone their competencies, abilities and aptitude. They need to generate information in terms of various factors, which are facilitating in generating desired outcomes. These include, marketing strategies, labour market factors, customer demands and so forth. As a consequence of being well-aware in terms of all these factors, individuals will be well-prepared in carrying out all types of tasks and activities in an adequate manner. In this manner, they will contribute efficiently in leading to up-gradations of overall living conditions. Therefore, it is well understood, progressions in agriculture and farming practices are indispensable in leading to up-gradations of rural communities. The main concepts that are taken into account in this research paper are, understanding the importance of progressions in agriculture and farming practices; measures to be implemented in leading to progressions in agriculture and farming practices and measures to be implemented in improving conditions of agricultural labourers and farmers.

Detection of malignant neoplasms in the population of an industrialized region

Introduction. Malignant neoplasms are the leading cause of the death over the world, ranking second after diseases of the circulatory system. The purpose of the investigation — to study the primary detectability, prevalence, and mortality from malignant neoplasms in the population of the industrialized developed region, propose ways of their early detection to prolong labour longevity. Materials and methods. Using the analysis of retrospective statistical data from the Federal State Statistics Service and the Novokuznetsk Branch of the Kuzbass Clinical Oncological Dispensary named after M.S. Rappoport, from 2013 to 2022 the information on the incidence of oncological diseases in whole and in specific locaion was collected. Results. In recent years, the incidence of malignant neoplasms in Russia, the Siberian Federal District, and the Kemerovo Region, among others, has been at a high level and continues to grow. Among men, lung cancer, colorectal cancer and prostate cancer take first place, and the latter has been competing for 2nd place in the structure of oncological pathology since 2020. At the same time, the gain in oncological diseases prevalence falls in the employable age (45 years and older). In addition to the commonly accepted facts about the risk of developing oncological pathology, there are more than 100 factors of the production environment classified as carcinogenic ones. In this regard, Kuzbass, as one of the most important economic regions of Russia, in which the leading role belongs to the industrial complex for mining and processing of coal, iron ores, and various non-metallic raw materials for metallurgy and the construction industry, refers to the regions unfavourable for the development of malignant neoplasms. Limitations. The limitations of the study relate to the impossibility at present to estimate the number of patients with malignant neoplasms employed in harmful labor conditions. Conclusion. As a result of analyzing own data and numerous studies, we propose screening for the most common oncological diseases (lung, prostate, and colorectal cancer) at periodic medical examinations, which will allow identifying these diseases at early stages for timely successful treatment, thereby prolonging labour longevity.

Do Capital Asset and Labor Conditions Matter in Loan Pricing? Evidence From Capital and Labor Redeployability

This article offers the novel insight that loan pricing is affected by the redeployability of borrowers’ capital assets and labor. We find that both capital and labor redeployability are negatively related to loan spread, suggesting that borrowers with higher redeployability enjoy more favorable loan pricing. This finding is consistent with redeployability promoting reduced cost stickiness and enhanced liquidity, which in turn reduces borrowers’ probability of default and lenders’ loan losses given default. Our cross-sectional test results reveal that the relation between redeployability and loan pricing is stronger for firms with more growth opportunities, which is consistent with lenders viewing redeployability as an important way to minimize potential loan losses from risky investments. Also, the relation between redeployability and loan pricing is weaker for loans with more stringent nonpricing terms, suggesting that strict terms may protect lenders and make redeployability less important in loan pricing. JEL Classification: D22, G21, G32, J62.

Knowledge production at a crossroads: rising antidemocracy and diminishing academic freedom

ABSTRACT This essay links the global shift toward antidemocracy with the global attack on higher education. I argue that rising far-right politics in many countries is also politicizing higher education, in turn diminishing the freedom to research, think and teach. This is apparent across Europe, the Americas, Middle East, Asia, Africa and among supposedly leading liberal democracies such as the United States. A common strategy in far-right attacks on higher education has been to limit scholars’ claim to collective institutional autonomy and reduce scholarly conversation to an individual’s right to free speech. The new UK Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023 illustrates this reductionism explicitly. To counter this trend, I argue for reframing academic freedom as social responsibility to wider societies, underscoring its collective dimensions and legibility and applicability to nonacademic audiences. This reframing is particularly important in global north countries given the dominance of the Euro-American academy in knowledge production, and the relative power of western scholars to push back against intellectual censorship. Drawing on the recent wave of political activism across social movements and union mobilization in the United States, I argue this presents an opportunity for connecting the defense of higher education with the defense of wider concerns around issues such as the climate crisis, labor conditions, anti-racism, conflict and abortion rights. I conclude that shifting the narrative about academic freedom is essential for building transnational support across class, race, ethnic, religious, gender and educational differences, and resisting escalating attacks on universities and colleges around the world.

Sociological appraisal on working conditions of agricultural women labourers in rural community of Haryana

Sociological appraisal on working conditions of agricultural women labourers in rural community of Haryana

Impacts of Direct Cash Assistance, Social Security Enrollment, and Employment Stability on the Welfare of Hand-Rolled Cigarette Workers in Central Java

This research investigates the relationship between Direct Cash Assistance (BLT) from the Tobacco Product Excise Profit Sharing Fund (DBHCHT), BPJS Employment, employment status, and the welfare of hand-rolled cigarette workers in Central Java, Indonesia. Given the significant shifts from manual to mechanized production in the tobacco industry, the study addresses the crucial aspect of worker welfare amidst these changes. The analysis focuses on four key areas: Pati, Kudus, Demak, and Jepara, utilizing data collected from 451 hand-rolled cigarette workers through structured interviews. The methodology involves an ordered logit regression model to evaluate how financial assistance, health and accident insurance coverage through BPJS Employment, and permanent versus contractual employment statuses impact the welfare of these workers, with welfare quantified in terms of income and asset ownership. The results indicate a positive correlation between the provision of BLT DBHCHT and improved welfare indices, highlighting the effectiveness of direct financial aid in enhancing living standards. Additionally, enrollment in BPJS Employment is significantly associated with better welfare outcomes, underscoring the importance of robust social security systems for protecting worker welfare. The study also finds that permanent employment contributes to higher welfare levels compared to contractual work, suggesting that job security plays a crucial role in promoting worker well-being. These findings underscore the necessity for targeted policy interventions aimed at improving socio-economic conditions for laborers within Indonesia's tobacco sector. They also advocate for an expanded scope of welfare indicators in future studies to include more comprehensive assessments of worker well-being, incorporating health, educational attainments, and psychosocial factors.

Precarious Work and Housing for Michigan Farmworkers During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

ABSTRACT Objectives Farmworkers in Michigan face precarious and exploitative labor conditions that affect their access to affordable, fair, and quality housing, which are key social determinants of health. We sought to assess the health, working conditions, and housing access, affordability, and quality of farmworkers living in and outside of employer-provided housing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods We conducted a mixed methods cross-sectional study in collaboration with community partners from the Michigan Farmworker Project and the Michigan Department of Civil Rights. We assessed housing, labor conditions, and general health through in-depth phone interviews with seasonal, migrant, and H-2A farmworkers (n = 63) during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2021) in Michigan. Descriptive analyses of these data included comparisons by type of farmworker and type of housing (employer-provided or other). Results The majority of farmworkers interviewed were women and seasonal farmworkers and spoke primarily Spanish. A significant share of farmworker participants reported living in poverty (38.3%) and had low or very low food security (27.0%). Nearly half of farmworkers (47.6%) rated their health as “fair” or “poor” during the year prior to the interview, and more than a third reported 3 or more chronic conditions (39.6%) and lack of health insurance coverage (38.7%). Among the 43 workers tested, 25.6% reported testing positive for COVID-19. Farmworkers reported experiences of objectification and dehumanization. Three-quarters of workers reported feeling that they were treated as less than human by supervisors and one-third reported verbal abuse. Farmworkers also experienced challenges exacerbated by their social vulnerability that impeded them from finding affordable, quality housing. Regarding housing quality, the majority of workers (80.6%) reported one or more environmental hazards around their residence, and about a third reported not having air conditioning (33.%) and lacking a functioning washing machine (33.9%). Concerns about the quality of drinking water accessible to workers and exposure to chemicals were shared by participants. Conclusion This study adds valuable knowledge to the understanding of the systemic barriers to housing and work conditions for female and male seasonal, migrant, and H-2A farmworkers in Michigan. Shortcomings in the regulatory and policy environment result in precarious housing and work conditions, including exploitative labor practices. These conditions negate equality, fairness, and health equity, important tenants for public health.

Extracellular acidification increases uterine contraction in pregnant mouse by increasing intracellular calcium.

As uterine extracellular pH decreases during the ischemic conditions of labor, but its effects on myometrial contraction are largely unknown, there is a need to elucidate its physiological effects and mechanisms of action. Furthermore, it is not known if any of the effects of extracellular acidification are affected by pregnancy, thus we also determined how gestation affects the response to acidification. Nonpregnant, mid-, and term-pregnant myometrial strips were obtained from humanely killed mice. Contractions were recorded under spontaneous, depolarized, and oxytocin-stimulated conditions. The extracellular pH of the perfusate was changed from 7.4 to 6.9 or 7.9 in HEPES-buffered physiological saline. Intracellular pH was measured using SNARF, and intracellular calcium was measured using Indo-1. Statistical differences were tested using the appropriate t-test. Extracellular acidification significantly increased the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous contractions in pregnant, but not nonpregnant, myometrium, whereas alkalinization decreased contractions. Intracellular acidification, via Na-butyrate, transiently increased force in pregnant tissue. Intracellular pH was gradually acidified when extracellular pH was acidified, but extracellular acidification increased contractility before any significant change in intracellular pH. If myometrial force was driven by oxytocin or high-K depolarization, then extracellular pH did not further increase force. Intracellular calcium changes mirrored those of force in the spontaneously contracting pregnant myometrium, and if calcium entry was prevented by nifedipine, extracellular acidification could not induce a rise in force. Extracellular acidification increases excitability, calcium entry, and thus force in pregnant mouse myometrium, and this may contribute to increasing contractions during labor when ischemic conditions and acidemia occur.

RISK-ORIENTED APPROACH TO THE ASSESSMENT OF WORKING CONDITIONS OF WORKERS WITH INCREASED THERMAL EXPOSURE

Problem statement. The issue of studying the working conditions of workers with increased heat exposure is considered. Diseases provoked by harmful working conditions have a rather long incubation period, so their manifestation is not always easy to recognize and there are difficulties in establishing the root cause of occupational disease. The purpose of the article. Development and implementation of risk assessment methodology based on the joint action of harmful and hazardous industrial factors and regularities of their intensity decrease with distance from the source. Methodology. The impact of occupational and heterogeneous industrial factors on the employee's health, taking into account the time of action and the impact of their joint action in quantitative form, can be fairly objectively assessed on the basis of the Weber-Fechner law through the calculation of the integral index of potential risk. Structural analysis was used to determine the structure and causes of occupational diseases. Correlation analysis was carried out to find out the nature of relationships between the levels of influence of factors of the industrial environment to assess the conditions and nature of labor at the workplaces of workers, at whose workplaces the increased thermal stress was installed. Probabilistic-statistical methods were used for data processing - to determine the algorithm of transformation of environmental parameters into an indicator of occupational risk for workers with harmful working conditions. Development of a model for determining the zones of transformation of occupational risk through mutual influence on the industrial risk of the processing of research results needed the application of formalization methods. A software system for the formation of aggregated for multivariate analysis of information was used, which made it possible to build a three-dimensional model of changes in the values of the indicator of occupational risk in the space between the workplaces of employees located in the welding department. Scientific novelty. The applied risk-oriented approach using the methods of occupational and industrial risk assessment for electric welders' workplaces allows to take into account the harm to the worker's organism from the factors of the industrial environment. The established regularities allow to determine the zones of transformation of occupational risk through mutual influence into production risk, which is the justification of measures to reduce injuries and occupational diseases. Practical value. On the example of labor conditions at the workplaces of electric welders the methodology of risk assessment is developed and tested taking into account the joint action of harmful and hazardous industrial factors and regularities of their intensity decrease with distance from the source. The given risk-oriented approach allows to fulfill all the requirements and recommendations set forth in ISO 45001: its application to the working conditions of workers of hot professions (welders) allows to carry out a quantitative assessment of occupational and industrial risk at their workplaces, in particular for preparation for certification under ISO 45001. Conclusions. An effective tool for theoretical analysis of pollution zones formed during an extreme situation at gas stations has been created. The results of computational experiments are presented. The methodology of risk assessment based on the fundamental Weber-Fechner law for objective assessment of the impact of occupational and heterogeneous industrial factors on the employee's health in quantitative form through the calculation of the integral index (potential risk), which will allow to assess the working conditions at workplaces and objectively determine the class of working conditions, has been developed and implemented.

Towards achieving the sustainable development goals: a collaborative action plan leveraging the circular economy potentials

This contribution to the journal “Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO)” delves into the critical role of Sustainable Development Goal 17 (SDG 17), “Partnership for the Goals,” in fostering interdisciplinary collaboration to further circular economy objectives. Aiming to address the existing research focus on isolated technical aspects within the circular economy, this study uses an expertise- and interaction-based foresight process to integrate perspectives from business, engineering, social sciences, and work and organizational psychology to unearth broader, interconnected challenges and solutions for the implementation of circular economy practices. Based on the pooled experience of experts within the foresight process, this contribution elucidates major challenges, ongoing issues, and prospective hurdles to be tackled by 2030 in circular economy, presenting an action plan centered on interdisciplinary cooperation and stakeholder engagement to advance labor conditions and continuous learning, sustainable and regenerative systems, minimize waste, and optimize resource efficiency. The collaborative action plan serves as a pivotal resource for the transformation task for researchers and practitioners, offers insights and strategic directions for implementing circular economy practices, and emphasizes collective responsibility and action in achieving global sustainability, all while aligning with the principles of SDG 17. The presented collaborative approach propels the discourse on sustainability forward, highlighting the potential of the circular economy in realizing a more sustainable world by 2030.

Digital Labor: An Examination of the Labor Mechanism of Internet Celebrities

As Internet technology and social media have become ubiquitous, the emergence of the “online celebrity economy” has become increasingly pronounced. Despite this, the labor mechanisms underlying it remain underexplored. This study adopts a “digital labor” framework to scrutinize the role and labor processes of internet celebrities, recognizing them as a nascent workforce. Furthermore, it dissects the value chain associated with this demographic, uncovering intricate issues related to the distribution of profits and the apportionment of risks. This research aims to engender a wider discourse on digital labor conditions and to delve into their significant repercussions for work, societal dynamics, economic structures, and personal identity.

From threat to essentially sacrificial: racial capitalism, (im)mobilities, and food delivery workers in New York City during Covid-19

As Covid-19 spread quickly, New York City (NYC) designated food delivery as essential and stopped policing the electric bikes ridden by ‘threatening’ delivery workers. We use racial capitalism to examine how becoming essential reconfigured the labor mobilities of NYC food delivery workers to maintain and create accumulations of racial capitalism in a crisis of pandemic-induced (im)mobilities. This research draws from pre-pandemic and during-pandemic data collections including analyses of governmental documents, surveys, interviews, focus groups, and public data to understand the value extracted from the essential designation of food delivery. Pre-pandemic labor conditions extracted value from food delivery mobility by offloading risks and costs through informal working conditions and policing. Designating food delivery as essential produced new arrangements of uneven (im)mobilities that built upon preexisting conditions of delivery mobility that extracted novel values by intensifying, altering, and creating sacrificial hazards and burdens for workers. However, the embodied incongruencies and fissures of being essential conversely fueled organizing by delivery workers to use their essential narrative to secure local labor victories. The fissures of the essential designation in food delivery indicate critical junctures between racial capitalism and (im)mobilities for possible future accumulations and interventions.

“Too Clean, Too White”: Resistance to the Racial Politics of Hygiene in Helena María Viramontes’s Under the Feet of Jesus

Abstract The central characters of Helena María Viramontes’s 1996 novel about Mexican American farm workers, Under the Feet of Jesus, are plagued by dirt and grime wherever they go. Subsequently, these characters frequently face racial discourses of hygiene—popular forms of communication (advertisements, public health education, etc.) that associate cleanliness with whiteness and wealth, and dirtiness with poverty and nonwhite identity. Through their encounters with dirt, cleaning products, and racial discourses of hygiene, Viramontes’s characters demonstrate how ideas about cleanliness inform US racial formation. In particular, the novel’s engagement with the American ideals of white cleanliness foisted on the central teenage farm worker, Estrella, and her family reveals how personal hygiene is weaponized as a tool of neoliberalism to obscure the material conditions of laborers and the systemic environmental racism they face. In the novel, individual hygiene is presented, most often by white or white-coded characters, as the path toward environmental, racial, and economic justice in ways that distract from the structural roots of the environmental injustices nonwhite farm workers face daily. Through white color imagery and active engagement with dirty materiality, Under the Feet of Jesus challenges racial discourses of hygiene and demonstrates systemic and restorative ways of thinking about public health and the value of communal care.

Professional staff burnout: causes, economic consequences, ways of prevention

The purpose of the research. Based on a critical analysis of scientific research on the problems of social and financial well-being of employees, their physical and mental health, to prove the objective reality of professional burnout of employees and to propose such forms of labor motivation that do not require significant investments from business owners and employers, but will reduce the degree of professional burnout of personnel in the prevailing conditions of social and labor relations.Research methodology. The article uses theoretical, empirical and general scientific research methods in order to comprehensively study the phenomenon of professional burnout of employees, identify its causes, factors of influence, and economic consequences for business entities. Statistical methods of economic analysis were also used to systematize the evidence and conduct an analytical review.Originality / value of the research. The article analyzes a significant layer of data related to professional burnout of employees, obtained as a result of generalization of scientific research and surveys of respondents in many countries of the world. On this basis, a set of measures aimed at preventing chronic stress in the workplace in new working conditions has been formulated.The results of the study. The authors clarified the signs and systematized the causes of the phenomenon of «professional burnout of personnel», revealed its impact on the economic performance of business entities. Proposals have also been developed for the implementation of effective work motivation tools that do not require employers to make almost any investments in personnel, but contribute to the prevention or reduction of professional burnout.