Who is feeling the burn in the workplace?

NBC's Rory O'Neill talks dirty jobs and workplace burnout

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Columbus Morning News. Let's been a couple of minutes with

(00:02):
NBC News Radios RORYO O'Neil on a Legacy retirement Group
dot com phone line, Rooro, Hope you had a good weekend.
How was that alarm in the middle of the night
or this morning going off for the first time in
a couple of days.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
I was just happy I remember to turn it off
yesterday morning.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
That's right, of course, if you're like me, even on
a date off, you're you're sleep You're still getting up
at like five thirty or six. That's sleeping in for us.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
Well yeah, and at my age, I'm getting up at
three anyway, So it doesn't do it now, I can
say it's.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
The difference, that's right. One to get with you the
story about people who have quote unquote dirty jobs don't
get burned out as much as folks who have maybe
like a white collar job or not a dirty job.
What's the story here, right?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Dirty jobs is a term that was created seventy years ago.
Sorry micro but it breaks it down into whether or
not it's physically dirty, like you're a garbage man, you
dig ditches that kind of thing, or or whether or
not it's socially thought of as dirty hang out trying
to help drug dealers or you know, in drug rehab
or you with prisoners, that sort of a thing. And

(01:06):
then there's the moral kind you're you're a stripper or something.
So those are quote unquote dirty jobs, and whether or
not there's burnout in those sectors, a lot of it
depends on how those workers feel and how they interpret
how others feel about them. Right, it's the stigma. If
they if they think a stigma exists around their job,

(01:28):
they are more likely to burn out of that job.

Speaker 3 (01:30):
But if they're like, hey, whatever, I'm just you know,
trying to do a thing and payment bills, they tend
to succeed, be a bit happier, and stay in those
jobs longer.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Interesting, I would have guessed that it was jobs that
were you can kind of punch out on and not
think about work until your next shift would have lower
burnout versus you know, like a white collar worker or
somebody who's a decision maker that that kind of carries
work home with them and never really gets to punch out.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
Well, I'd say that's a big party. I would agree
to that as well. But they're looking more specifically at
how others perceive. And I don't think that the person
who they also have a lot of pressure on them
and pressure to succeed in those kinds of things. But
it really is whether or not these people feel stigmatized,
and if they don't, and if they feel like, hey,
look I'm the garbage band. Somebody's got to do it.

(02:21):
It pays well my job. You know, my job is
done by noon, you know, And I don't have to
the stress lines. I don't have to worry about it.
But if you are concerned that, well, my neighbor watched
me dumping out the garbage cans. If that bothers you,
then you're not going to last long on that job.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
Interesting and I would imagine too, the stigma, if that's
the right word to use for a garbage collector, is
the same as a stigma for an exotic dancer. As
you mentioned earlier, I think they're kind of two different categories.
I appreciate I appreciate the guys that pick up the trash,
but you know, I don't know how I feel about
an exotic dancer here and there, but I appreciate them

(03:00):
all right, Rory, thanks for that. Infl have a great week.
We'll talk to you game in the morning.