‘The wise rest at least as hard as they work’

AmericAn psychologist Herbert Freudenberger coined the term “burnout” in 1974 to describe the consequences of severe stress. Burnout is a state of complete mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion. Those experiencing it find it difficult to engage in activities they normally find meaningful. They may feel an increasing sense of hopelessness, as they no longer care about the things that are important to them.

Apart from loss of motivation, burnout has other emotional symptoms, like feeling alone in the world, helplessness, lack of contentment, sense of failure or self-doubt, and cynicism.

In an article published by The New Yorker— Burnout: Modern Affliction or Human Condition?—American historian and journalist Jill Lepore wrote: One Swiss psychotherapist, in a history of burnout published in 2013—“Burnout is increasingly serious and of widespread concern”—insists that he found it in the Old Testament. Moses was burned out, in Numbers 11:14, when he complained to God, “I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it is too heavy for me.” And so was Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, when he “went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough.”

Around the world, three out of five workers say they’re burned out. A 2020 US study put that figure at three in four.

The World Health Organization recognized burnout syndrome in 2019, but only as an occupational phenomenon, not as a medical condition. WHO defines burnout as “a syndrome conceptualized as resulting from chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.” In other words, workplace stress makes you unwell.

In a Bloomberg article—Burnout is back in a big way—Here’s why —Julia Hobsbawm said: “Recent data from Deloitte and the research firm Workplace Intelligence cites about half of workers saying they are either exhausted or stressed, and 60 percent of employees say they would consider changing jobs to find better wellbeing provisions.” From Mayo Clinic: Ignored or unaddressed job burnout can have significant consequences, including excessive stress, fatigue, insomnia, sadness, anger or irritability, alcohol or substance misuse, heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, and vulnerability to illnesses.

Deloitte is one of the largest global professional services network in the world. From November 2021 to January 2022, it conducted a survey on workrelated stress and burnout, with 23,220 respondents from 46 countries. Philippine participants included 300 Gen Z respondents and 100 millennials.

According to the study, 70 percent of Gen Zs and 63 percent of millennials in the Philippines are experiencing burnout because of the “demands of their workload.” What’s alarming is that this number is a far cry from the global average of 45 percent. This means that the majority of the country’s young workforce has experienced burnout due to work-related stress.

Unfortunately, this national prevalence of burnout also translates to higher incidences of anxiety and stress, with 48 percent of millennials and 68 percent of Gen Z in the Philippines claiming to be anxious and stressed out all or most of the time—higher than the global average of 46 percent for Gen Z, and 38 percent for millennials.

Due to the prevalence of both burnout and work-related stress in the Philippines, Deloitte said statistics regarding resignations are also increasing, with 58 percent of respondents saying that many of their colleagues resigned due to “work pressure,” 15 points higher than the global average.

The survey results indicate that workplace stress is overpowering many young Filipino workers. This is most disturbing because the negative effects of burnout can spill over into every area of their life—including family and social life. The costs of employee burnout to an organization can include absenteeism, lower productivity, low quality work, tardiness, and employee turnover.

It would do well for our health authorities to note the rising number of Filipino workers experiencing burnout. There’s a need for the government, employers and workers to come together to try to find solutions that can lessen if not eradicate workplace stress and burnout.

To all millennials, Gen Z and other workers experiencing burnout, here’s a word of wisdom from Mokokoma Mokhonoana: “The wise rest at least as hard as they work.”

Addressing today’s most urgent needs and preparing for the future

prices for the benefit of consumers.

sonny M. angara

Better Days

THe Senate has officially started its deliberations on the proposed P5.768 trillion national budget for 2024 with the briefing of the Development Budget coordination committee on the macroeconomic assumptions and key data for the all-important measure. By rule, it is the House of representatives that goes over the budget measure first, initially in the form of the national expenditure Program (neP). But in order to expedite the process and as part of tradition, the Senate simultaneously conducts its own hearings on the neP, through the committee on Finance.

This is the fifth budget measure that I am handling as Chairman of the Finance Committee and it is always a challenge to strike a balance between fulfilling limitless needs and working with limited funds. The 2024 proposed budget is no different. The requirements of the country remain the same but generating the revenues needed to fund these have become more challenging, particularly with the economy just recovering from over two years of inactivity as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

What is encouraging with the 2024 proposed budget is its focus as reflected in the theme “Agenda for Prosperity: Securing a FutureProof and Sustainable Economy.” Just like the State of the Nation Address of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the 2024 NEP is forward-looking and hews closely to the Medium Term Fiscal Framework, which the

Department of Finance describes as “the government’s blueprint to steer the economy back to its high-growth trajectory.”

Among the priorities of the 2024 budget is ensuring food security.

Consumers have been dealing with rising prices of food, particularly rice, vegetables, pork and fish. This is the result of a combination of factors such as low production, high transport costs and bad weather. We were just hit by two successive typhoons that caused massive flooding and damage to agriculture in the Central Luzon and other parts of the country.

This is while we are in the midst of El Niño, which is expected to bring about severe drought in most parts of the country in the coming months. Programs to support farmers and fisherfolk are included in the proposed budget to increase production and eventually, stabilize supply and

Another priority in the 2024 budget is on reducing transport and logistics cost through various infrastructure projects as part of the Build Better More program of the administration. A significant amount of funding was proposed for the Department of Transportation to implement its Rail Transport, Land Public Transport, Aviation Infrastructure, and Maritime Infrastructure Programs. Most of the projects will not be completed in the near term but with funding provided under the proposed budget, we can be assured the implementation of these will continue and hopefully, be completed within their target dates.

And even though we are no longer in a pandemic, the 2024 budget provides for the continued strengthening of our country’s health system. This includes the health facilities enhancement program and beefing up the operations of the Department of Health-run hospitals. On a sectoral basis, health has the third highest allocation, just behind education and public works. It is important to keep our health system prepared for future emergencies. We can no longer afford to be caught off guard when the next health crisis strikes.

The 2024 budget also recognizes the need to enhance the digital economy and the administration has proposed a corresponding 60 percent increase in the allocations for ICT and digitalization from the current year. This includes improving Internet access and speeds through the National Broadband Plan, the National Government Data Center Infrastructure and the National Government Portal. Programs related to flood control, water sufficiency, coastal and marine resources management and enhancing our forest cover are also included under the umbrella of promoting sustainability. Keeping our people and communities safe and ensuring that they have sufficient access to clean water are key priorities that have emerged and will require sustained interventions if we are to address these for the long term.

In line with our Tatak Pinoy or Proudly Pinoy advocacy, the budget measure contains funding for programs to advance research and development and innovation (R&D). This includes the continued support to the Innovation Fund, the R&D of our state universities and colleges, the Small Enterprises Technology Upgrading and the Science for Change Programs under the Department of Science and Technology. In the coming weeks and months, the Finance Committee, with our very capable vice chairpersons, will start to dive into the proposed budgets of all government departments, agencies and offices. As what we have done in previous years, we will work non-stop with the goal of approving the measure on time and providing our people with the services that they deserve.

Senator Sonny Angara has been in public service for 18 years—9 years as Representative of the Lone District of Aurora, and 9 as Senator. He has authored, co-authored, and sponsored more than 330 laws. He is currently serving his second term in the Senate.

E-mail: sensonnyangara@yahoo.com| Facebook, Twitter & Instagram: @sonnyangara

AP, other news organizations develop standards for use of artificial intelligence in newsrooms

By David Bauder | AP Media Writer

neW YOrK—The Associated Press has issued guidelines on artificial intelligence, saying the tool cannot be used to create publishable content and images for the news service while encouraging staff members to become familiar with the technology.

AP is one of a handful of news organizations that have begun to set rules on how to integrate fastdeveloping tech tools like ChatGPT into their work. The service will couple this on Thursday with a chapter in its influential Stylebook that advises journalists how to cover the story, complete with a glossary of terminology.

“Our goal is to give people a good way to understand how we can do a little experimentation but also be safe,” said Amanda Barrett, vice president of news standards and inclusion at AP.

The journalism think tank Poynter Institute, saying it was a “transformational moment,” urged news organizations this spring to create standards for AI’s use, and share the policies with readers and viewers.

Generative AI has the ability to create text, images, audio and video on command, but isn’t yet fully capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction.

As a result, AP said material produced by artificial intelligence should be vetted carefully, just like material from any other news source. Similarly, AP said a photo, video or audio segment generated by AI should not be used, unless the altered material is itself the subject of a story.

That’s in line with the tech magazine Wired, which said it does not publish stories generated by AI, “except when the fact that it’s AI-generated is the point of the whole story.”

“Your stories must be completely written by you,” Nicholas Carlson, Insider editor-in-chief, wrote in a note to employees that was shared with readers. “You are responsible for the accuracy, fairness, originality and quality of every word in your stories.”

Highly-publicized cases of AIgenerated “hallucinations,” or madeup facts, make it important that consumers know that standards are in place to “make sure the content they’re reading, watching and listening to is verified, credible and as fair as possible,” Poynter said in an editorial.

News organizations have outlined ways that generative AI can be useful short of publishing. It can help editors at AP, for example, put together digests of stories in the works that are sent to its subscribers. It could help editors create headlines or generate story ideas, Wired said. Carlson said AI could be asked to suggest possible edits to make a story concise and more readable, or to come up with possible questions for an interview.

AP has experimented with simpler forms of artificial intelligence for a decade, using it to create short news stories out of sports box scores or corporate earnings reports. That’s important experience, Barrett said, but “we still want to enter this new See “AP,” A17