Women experience exhaustion 30x more often compared to men, says research from Cia de Talentos

Cia de Talentos, Latin America's largest career education consultancy, today (10th) released unprecedented data from the 2024 Dream Career Survey, a robust study providing insights into what drives young people, middle management, and senior leadership in their professional trajectories. By segmenting male and female respondents, it was possible to identify market trends that reinforce gender disparities, such as the feeling of exhaustion, which is 33.3% more prevalent in the daily lives of women.

The quantitative approach was conducted via an online form between January and March 2024, resulting in a sample of 93,500 valid responses from all regions of the country. One of the survey questions points to the inclusion of more responsibilities than can be managed within one's own working hours. In this case, 55% of women in senior leadership partially or fully agree with the statement, whereas this number drops to 47% when it comes to men in the same roles.

Furthermore, according to the study “Esgotadas” (Exhausted Women), published in May 2023 by the ThinkOlga Lab, single mothers or female caregivers show rates of dissatisfaction with their own working hours of 57% and 41%, respectively. Thus, overload and, consequently, the feeling of exhaustion are not only characteristic of the work environment but also of personal and family aspects. 

“Women are not a homogeneous group. There are characteristics of social class, race, age, and sexuality, for example, that diversify experiences in the corporate world and in life. However, something common to the routines of different women is the excessive responsibility for care work and exhaustion”, highlights Danilca Galdini, Partner-Director of Insights and People & Culture at Cia de Talentos and head of the research. “Organizations want to bring more women into leadership positions, which is extremely important in terms of diversity and efficiency, but it is necessary to ensure gender equity in these environments through applicable strategies that consider this reality of overload”, she concludes.

Regarding confidence at work – an essential aspect for the development of corporate self-esteem and good interpersonal relationships, as highlighted in the recent E-book on Trust by Cia de Talentos – the data is also alarming: 51% of young women say they do not trust their coworkers and 37% do not trust their direct management. Distrust, in this sense, is another aspect that contributes to the feeling of exhaustion being more frequent among women.