Exploring social work practitioners’ perspectives on the contributors to burnout since the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

[EMBARGOED UNTIL 02/14/2026] Burnout has a historic and disproportionate impact on social workers and is one important contributor to the ongoing health and behavioral health workforce crisis in the United States. Little is known, however, about social workers’ experiences of burnout and their perceptions of factors that contribute to burnout since the COVID-19 pandemic. This study sought to explore this by answering the following research questions: 1) To what extent are social workers in [state] experiencing burnout? and 2) What do [state] social workers view as the top reasons for burnout in their professional role? Seventy social work practitioners and leaders from [state] completed an online survey during Fall 2022 that included the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory and an open-ended question focused on identifying their perceptions of the top three reasons for burnout in the profession. Findings suggest social workers in this study are experiencing moderate levels of burnout since the COVID-19 pandemic and report primarily organizational (83%) contributors to burnout. They also identified individual (36%), systemic (29%), and interpersonal (27%) contributors to burnout. Implications are discussed related to policy and practice responses to prevent and address burnout among social workers.This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Social Work following peer review. The version of record Tasha M Childs, Aidyn L Iachini, Melissa Reitmeier, Teri Browne, Dana DeHart, Ala Bengel, My’Ashia Haynesworth, Exploring Social Work Practitioners’ Perspectives on the Contributors to Burnout since the COVID-19 Pandemic, Childs, T.M., Iachini, A.L., Reitmeier, M., Browne, T., DeHart, D., Bengel, A., Haynesworth, M. (in press). Exploring Social Work Practitioners' Perspectives on the Contributors to Burnout since the COVID-19 Pandemic. Social Work. is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/sw/swae005.Includes bibliographical references