90% of Multi-Project Workers Feel Overloaded: The Reality of 'Invisible Burden'

Flags Inc. (Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Masaki Hayashibe), which develops the project management DX platform 'Flagxs,' conducted a survey on 'Project Management Realities' targeting 235 IT project professionals nationwide.

The results showed that 66.4% have experience managing multiple projects concurrently. Among these multi-project workers (n=156), 90.4% felt that work was concentrated on specific team members, and 85.9% felt a shortage of resources. Furthermore, the project failure rate for those with concurrent project experience was 60.9%, approximately five times higher than the 11.4% rate for those without such experience.

While multi-project work has become normalized, a strong correlation between concurrent project experience and project failure has been highlighted.

◼️ Survey Summary
- Experienced concurrent projects: 66.4% (156 out of 235 total)
- Managed 3 or more projects simultaneously: 60.3% (n=156, concurrent project workers)
- Felt resource shortages: 85.9% (n=156)
- Felt work concentration: 90.4% (n=156)
- Struggled with priority setting: 80.1% (n=156)
- Faced resource allocation challenges: 88.5% (n=156)
- Experienced stress from concurrent work: 80.8% (n=156)
- Even among non-concurrent workers: work concentration 54.4%, resource shortage 43.0% (n=79)
- Expect concurrent work to 'stay the same or increase': 86.5% (n=156)

◼️ Survey Background
Driven by DX progress and talent shortages, working on multiple projects simultaneously has become widespread. A previous survey (Part 1) identified a structural issue: 'the absence of a design for project success' at the root of project failures. This second survey focused on concurrent project work to investigate how this lack of design affects workplace practices and workloads.

◼️ Reality of Multi-Project Work
When asked about experience managing concurrent projects in the last three years, 66.4% answered 'yes.' Among the 156 concurrent workers, the maximum number of simultaneous projects was: '2 projects' (39.7%), '3 projects' (41.7%), '4 projects' (9.0%), and '5 or more' (9.6%). This means 60.3% of concurrent workers managed three or more projects at once. The fact that roughly two out of three people have this experience suggests that concurrent project work is not a special situation for managers or PMs but a standard working style in IT project environments. This normalized environment may be accumulating an 'invisible burden' on the workforce.

◼️ The Reality of the Invisible Burden: ~90% of Concurrent Workers Feel Work Concentration and Resource Shortages
When asked about their working conditions, 90.4% of the 156 concurrent workers 'have felt work concentrated on specific members,' 85.9% 'have felt resource shortages,' and 88.5% 'have faced challenges in resource allocation across departments/projects.' Additionally, 80.1% 'have struggled with prioritizing between projects,' and 80.8% 'have felt stress or inefficiency due to concurrent projects.' This shows that various burdens are normalized in environments with multiple simultaneous projects. (*'Yes' includes combined totals for 'frequently' and 'sometimes,' with wording varying by question.) These burdens, while felt daily by individuals, are difficult to grasp and share across projects, potentially accumulating as an 'invisible burden' invisible to the organization as a whole.

◼️ The 'Invisible Burden' Spills Over to Non-Concurrent Workers: A Structural Problem for the Entire Organization
The 'invisible burden' is not just a problem for those with concurrent projects. Even among those without concurrent project experience, 54.4% 'have felt work concentration on specific members' and 43.0% 'have felt resource shortages.' Furthermore, looking at the subgroup with no concurrent experience but with project failure experience (n=9), 77.8% 'have felt work concentration' and 55.6% 'have felt resource shortages,' indicating a tendency for similar burdens even without concurrent work if they have experienced project failure. This suggests that workload concentration and resource shortages in multi-project environments can spill over to surrounding members and the entire team.

◼️ Specific Impacts of Concurrent Projects (Multiple Answers)
When asked about the impacts of managing multiple projects, the 156 concurrent workers reported: 'Delays/schedule adjustments occurred' (42.3%), 'Concentration was fragmented, reducing work efficiency' (40.4%), 'Switching priorities took time' (39.7%), and 'Mistakes and rework increased' (36.5%), confirming impacts on both work quality and progress. Additionally, 21.2% 'felt impacts on mental/physical health and well-being,' revealing that the concurrent work environment affects not only business operations but also individual workers. Notably, only 4.5% of concurrent workers reported 'no particular impact,' indicating that impacts are nearly universal in such environments.

◼️ Project Failure Rate ~5x Higher with Concurrent Work: Accumulated Burden Strongly Linked to Failure Risk
As noted, about 90% of concurrent workers feel work concentration and resource shortages. Is this 'invisible burden' related to project failure? The first survey found that 44.3% had experienced a project 'failing or nearly failing.' Comparing within the 156 concurrent workers, those with failure experience reported 'work concentration' at 94.7% and 'resource shortages' at 90.5%, more than 10 percentage points higher than those without failure experience. Higher burden levels correlated with higher failure rates. Comparing failure rates based on concurrent work experience itself, the rate was 60.9% for those with concurrent experience versus 11.4% for those without, a difference of about 49 percentage points or roughly five times. This shows a strong correlation between concurrent project experience and project failure.

◼️ Future Outlook: ~90% of Concurrent Workers Expect the Situation to Continue or Worsen
When asked about their outlook for concurrent project work, 38.5% of the 156 concurrent workers said it will 'increase,' and 48.1% said it will 'stay the same,' totaling 86.5% who expect the status quo or an increase.