Stressor Event Covid-19 Lockdown? A Multi-wave Study on Young People Starting Their Professional Careers

The objective of this paper was to evaluate the impact of the pandemic as a stressor event on young people at the beginning of their professional careers. We report on three subsequent studies on a relatively underexplored aspect: The lack of inspiration, challenge, and team spirit, could lead to job boredom, disinterest, and a perceived limitation to personal development. At its extreme, a boreout can occur. A boreout describes a negative mental state triggered by prolonged exposure to the combined impact of the three aforementioned dimensions. Boredom and a crisis of growth became evident, but neither of the three studies could find evidence for disinterest or a crisis of meaning. Instead, it revealed the magic of resilience kicking in and confirmed that digital work connectivity diminished the negative side-effects of starting a professional career during the lockdown.