Across the world, organisations rely on motivated employees who are fully engaged in their work. Engaged employees are energetic, enthusiastic, and committed to their tasks—qualities that boost productivity and morale. However, when workers push themselves too hard or fail to rest, this enthusiasm can lead to exhaustion and eventually burnout.

In South Africa, where the workplace has undergone rapid changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, understanding how engagement and burnout interact has become increasingly important. Many employees now face flexible work arrangements, blurred work-from-home boundaries, and increased emotional demands which have forced organisations to rethink how to protect the wellbeing of their staff while maintaining performance.

While engagement and burnout are often viewed as opposites, new evidence suggests they can coexist within the same individual. A person may feel deeply engaged in their work yet still experience emotional fatigue or detachment. Most previous studies examined burnout and engagement separately and were conducted in Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) countries, with limited focus on developing contexts such as South Africa.

A research study funded by the National Research Foundation (NRF) raised a key question: Can South African employees experience both engagement and burnout at the same time, and how do these combinations affect their wellbeing, commitment, and desire to stay or leave their jobs?

The study aimed to:

• Identify how burnout and work engagement combine to form distinct wellbeing profiles among South African employees.
• Examine how these profiles relate to psychological distress, affective organisational commitment, and turnover intention (the desire to leave one’s job).

The study used data from 1 048 South African employees who participated in an online survey. Participants came from various industries, with an average age of 40 years, and more than half were women. Researchers used two main measurement tools:

• The Burnout Assessment Tool (BAT-23), which measured exhaustion, mental distance, cognitive impairment, and emotional impairment; and
• The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), which measured vigour, dedication, and absorption.

Other scales measured psychological distress, commitment to the organisation, and turnover intention. A statistical technique called Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) was used to group individuals based on their burnout and engagement levels. This method allowed researchers to identify clusters of employees who shared similar wellbeing patterns.

The analysis revealed five distinct wellbeing profiles among South African employees:

• Burned-out (8%) – High burnout and very low engagement. These employees felt emotionally drained, detached, and struggled to connect with their work.
• Risky (28%) – Moderate burnout and low engagement. They showed early signs of strain and low motivation.
• Moderately Balanced (36%) – Moderate levels of both burnout and engagement. They managed to stay relatively stable but could easily shift in either direction.
• Stars (24%) – High engagement and low burnout. These employees were enthusiastic, healthy, and most committed to their organisations.
• Workaholics (4%) – High engagement but also high burnout. They were passionate but emotionally exhausted, showing the “dark side” of overcommitment.

In terms of wellbeing outcomes:

• Burned-out and Workaholic employees reported the highest psychological distress.
• Stars showed the highest organisational commitment and the lowest desire to leave.
• Burned-out employees had the strongest intention to quit, followed by the Risky group.
• Female employees were more represented in the Burned-out and Risky profiles, while men were slightly more likely to be in the Stars group.

The study highlights that high engagement does not always protect employees from burnout. Some individuals remain deeply committed to their work but experience emotional exhaustion, suggesting that too much engagement without recovery can be harmful. The Workaholic group, in particular, demonstrated this paradox, they were highly productive yet equally distressed. This finding supports the idea that engagement and burnout are not simply opposites but can coexist in complex ways.

The authors recommend that organisations adopt differentiated wellbeing strategies. They suggest preventive measures for those at risk of burnout and recovery-focused programmes for those already exhausted. Balancing passion with rest is key to sustaining healthy, productive workplaces.