Survey: Job Stress Pushing Planners to the Breaking Point

If stress has been a constant weight on your shoulders through two years of pandemic, you’ve got lots of company. New MeetingsNet research, which will be released in full on May 3, found that nearly 46 percent of planners said that their job has become much more stressful since the Covid pandemic began in March 2020, with another 43 percent saying their job has become somewhat more stressful.


The survey responses and comments provided by 175 corporate, association, and third-party planners deliver a dramatic account of professionals close to their breaking point, weighted down by smaller staffs and more responsibilities; constant unpredictability and changes in their work; and having to learn new skills often and quickly, then help colleagues get up to speed as well.

A full 36 percent of planners said that they feel stressed or frustrated at work every day—a recipe for professional burnout, according to workplace experts—while another 45 percent said they feel stressed or frustrated at work at least a few days each week.


Working in such an environment has burdened planners enough that 56.6 percent of respondents said the stress has made them consider leaving their present job—and three-quarters of those planners (representing 42.3 percent of all respondents) would not take another job as an event planner.


On Tuesday, May 3, look for our full story in MeetingsNet’s digital magazine edition, featuring more survey results along with planners’ personal stories of workplace stress and how they’ve created effective coping strategies for themselves and their staffs.