Report from Latvia

Employers play a crucial role in shaping work structures, yet young professionals hesitate to voice challenges until issues escalate. This highlights the need for systemic improvements rather than placing the burden on individuals. Organizations must take responsibility for preventing burnout and ensuring effective communication.

The discussion also highlighted that remote work reduces team spirit, leading to a lower sense of responsibility and engagement. Young professionals often join calls out of obligation rather than active participation, and freelancers especially struggle with feeling valued.

These factors contribute to motivation issues and a disconnect from work. The final basket of conclusions, and perhaps the most tangible, can be directly implemented in further steps of the EQCultivate project. The most important conclusion was the fact that young professionals do not need more training on structural things and digital tools. Instead they need awareness on how to recognize and learn about their own mental health, and how to stand up for their own needs in daily workflow with colleagues and the management.

The information in the report reveals a broad amount of useful information on viewpoints of Latvian discussion group. In this page we highlight the last section that displays the key themes mentioned by them.

Key conclusions emerged from the needs assessment. A major theme was responsibility—too much is placed on young professionals while systemic issues remain unaddressed. Expecting them to manage the mental health effects of remote work is unsustainable, especially as many already lack the necessary mental resources. Pandemic-related trauma persists and keeps unraveling continuously, and burnt-out youth workers cannot provide adequate support due to being limited in their resources personally and professionally.

Conclusions from the needs analysis conducted in Latvia

Proposed topics for training modules

• How to get to know your own mental health needs? How to recognize signs of worsening mental health? How to recognize burnout?

• How to define and speak up about your own boundaries with colleagues, management as well as clients? How to communicate and apply your boundaries efficiently? How to let the manager know the current system is not working?

• How to communicate? How to communicate effectively and constructively?

• Methods for planning and structuring your workflow and priorities, practical tips and tricks.

• How to find your own most productive time for work and the most productive style for work?

• How to not burn out even more? How to stop, take a break and evaluate the sustainability of your own working habits?

To read more, have a look at the report.

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