Exploring Campus Recreation Employees’ Work Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

The global COVID-19 pandemic made vulnerable work environments, and campus recreation departments could not avoid its influence. Previous studies focused on strategies and policies for reopening campus recreation facilities and the impacts of recreation programs on students and participants during the pandemic. Relatively little research has explored employees’ perceptions about campus recreation departments’ challenges and solutions, and employees’ work experience during the pandemic has not been fully explored. This study explored employees’ work experience related to burnout during the pandemic through semi-structured interviews with campus recreation employees (N  =  10). The findings revealed stressors, including extra workload, and lack of interaction, and burnout symptoms, including exhaustion, and cynicism. The findings also revealed that employees utilized individual strategies to manage stressors, and the department made efforts to reduce employees’ stress. The findings of this study will provide campus recreation practitioners with a better understanding of employees’ experience related to burnout.