FRANKFURT, Germany, July 11, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The number of ECB staff suffering from burnout has risen steadily in recent years to reach nearly four in ten, according to an internal study seen by AFP Thursday.

The number of employees at the European Central Bank reporting burnout has gone up from 29.7 percent in 2016 to 33.2 percent in 2021, before reaching 38.9 percent in 2024, according to the study commissioned by ECB staff representatives and conducted by the Psy@work consultancy.

The study also found that 146 employees had suicidal thoughts, representing 9.1 percent of respondents, up from six percent three years ago.

The findings are based on responses gathered from 1,600 of the bank's almost 5,100 employees in May.

The study noted that within the ECB "poor or absent career development plans, and lack of opportunities... are related to loss of motivation, and increase of cynicism".

The ECB had a higher rate of those reporting burnout than in similar studies. For example, Psy@work said that in retail companies the rate of burnout lay between 17 and 23 percent.

Carlos Bowles, deputy head of the IPSO trade union at the ECB, told AFP that ECB President Christine Lagarde and the executive board had "to tackle the root causes of ECB staff's mental harm, starting first with addressing staff concerns regarding favoritism in recruitment and workload".

Burnout-induced "poor judgment and mistakes... are the last things we need now that everyone is looking at the ECB to make the right policy choices", he added.

An ECB spokeswoman told AFP that "we take the health and wellbeing of our staff very seriously."

She added the bank has "put measures in place to respond to issues which had been identified previously and more measures to address issues such as workload and career opportunities are planned."