In the latest International SOS Risk Outlook Report 2024, senior risk experts from around the world were polled, and 80 percent said the possibility of burnout will significantly affect businesses in the upcoming year. However, only 41 percent of them believe that their companies are prepared to handle it.

In 2024, the global perma-crisis is anticipated to worsen due to the persistence of catastrophic weather occurrences that affect organizations and the escalation of global instability. Employee burnout is reaching alarming proportions as a result of this circumstance.

Additionally, it offers a thorough overview of some of the most important risks that businesses will need to manage in 2024, such as the global unrest, the power of AI, the evolution of employee expectations, and the climate issue.

Udit Mehta, Executive Vice President and Director of Operations for International SOS comments "2024 will likely be a year that redefines a crisis conundrum, with multiple risks driven by instability causing a considerable impact and consistent insecurity that organizations need to address.

Mehta adds, “Concurrent to the survey forecasting an increase in risks faced by organizations in 2024, organizations would need to ensure proactive principles of mitigation are implemented in conjunction with instituting pre-emptive intelligence and analysis capacities. 

The International SOS Risk Outlook Report 2024: The Top 5 Predictions

Running on Empty – The Perma-Crisis Takes its Toll

The COVID pandemic and turmoil in Ukraine and Russia have produced continuous disruptions to the supply chain and services across multiple industries. As a result, there is a growing risk of employee burnout. Respondents' assessed risk level for the upcoming year is higher than it has ever been, with 65 percent of them anticipating that global threats will rise in 2024, exacerbating their crisis management fatigue above what it was prior to the pandemic.

Out of the thousands of announcements by the International SOS in 2023, extreme weather events ranked as the second-largest category this year. One in four organizations indicated that incidents linked to climate change have already impacted their operations.

Dr Vikram Vora, Medical Director – Indian subcontinent comments, “The past few years have seen a rapid and unpredictable rise in unfavourable climate events like heat waves, floods, cyclones and earthquakes, which affect the physical and psychosocial health of the workforce”. The recent floods in Chennai due to the severe cyclone Michaung are an example of the devastation and disruption extreme weather events will continue to cause in the foreseeable future.

Global Instability Deepens

The next biggest concerns for organizations are social and civil unrest as well as political instability. As these events are unpredictable, it is imperative that organizations implement strong security measures in order to proactively navigate the obstacles presented by the ever-changing global geopolitical scene.

AI – Risks and Opportunities

In the Risk Outlook poll, over two out of every five participants expressed concern about the impact of medical misinformation and disinformation on their workforces.

The New Employment Contract

Employee expectations for Duty of Care have increased, according to seventy-five percent of the studied organizations. This emphasizes how providing simply minimal occupational health services for problems related to the workplace is no longer an option.