{"id":203913,"date":"2025-10-11T00:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T00:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/203913\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T00:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T00:10:09","slug":"us-worker-burnout-reaches-six-year-high","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/203913\/","title":{"rendered":"US worker burnout reaches six-year high"},"content":{"rendered":"

Burnout<\/a> among American workers has jumped to a six-year high, according to a recent study, as employees continue to feel overworked and trepidatious about their employment<\/a> opportunities elsewhere.<\/p>\n

According to insurance\u00a0company Aflac\u2019s latest WorkForces Report<\/a>, nearly three in four (72 percent) U.S. employees battle moderate to high burnout at work, up from around three in five last year<\/a>. This year saw Gen Z become the most burned-out bracket, with 74 percent suffering from at least moderate levels of work-related stress<\/a> compared to 66 percent of millennials.<\/p>\n

Why It Matters<\/p>\n

As Aflac noted in its report, the \u201clooming undercurrent\u201d of rising stress among employees is a wides<\/a>pread concern, stemming from the financial challenges\u00a0facing a growing number of Americans, as well as\u00a0the\u00a0<\/a>concerning softness in the labor market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Experts have pointed to a growing phenomenon known as \u201cjob hugging<\/a>\u201d\u2014employees remaining with their current employer out of financial necessity rather than desire\u2014as both a signal of labor market weakness but also a potential explanation for why Americans feel less satisfied with their roles.<\/p>\n

What To Know<\/p>\n

Aflac\u2019s survey took place between April and May of this year among 2,000 U.S. workers.<\/p>\n

Heavy workloads remain the key driver of stress, cited as the top reason by 35 percent of workers, with financial insecurity affecting an even larger portion. Some 44 percent say they would be unable to pay $1,000 for a sudden illness or injury, and 52 percent said they suffer from so-called \u201cmedanxiety\u201d\u2014chronic fear over unexpected medical expenses.<\/p>\n

As well as rising rates of burnout, the survey found that 48 percent of employees feel confident that their employer cares about their mental health, down from 54 percent last year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cWorker burnout is rising for a whole host of reasons,\u201d said Ron Goetzel,\u00a0senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Among these, he told\u00a0Newsweek, are the increased demands of 21st-century\u00a0jobs<\/a>\u00a0and \u201ctoxic\u201d workplace cultures that offer less flexibility.<\/p>\n

Author and stress researcher Rebecca Heiss added that the rise of AI, while perhaps making employees more productive, had begun to create a distance \u201cfrom the actual meaning and purpose of our work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe’re not struggling anymore,\u201d she told Newsweek.\u00a0\u201cAnd I actually think the human brain requires that struggle, that stress to have purpose and meaning.\u00a0And without purpose and meaning, we end up burning out.\u201d<\/p>\n

What People Are Saying<\/p>\n

Aflac Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Owenby wrote: \u201cThe prevalence of stress and burnout should raise a red flag and is certainly a matter that requires attention. Breaking the cycle of stress and burnout may begin with employers carefully analyzing employees’ responsibilities both on and off the clock and threading the needle between productivity and home life balance. Developing a broader understanding of what is driving stress can support the creation of programs that alleviate burnout which, in turn, can deliver a higher level of productivity.”<\/p>\n

Jennifer Schielke, co-founder and CEO of staffing and recruiting firm Summit Group Solutions, told Newsweek: \u201cThe on-going uncertainty and slow economic recovery certainly causes the uprooting of issues that may or may not even be related to the employer. Couple that with a market that is now employer-driven instead of candidate driven, and that creates a level of \u201closs of control\u201d that perhaps creates a sense of being \u201ctrapped\u201d \u2013 so even if it is a good work situation, that perception of not having options at your fingertips could trigger a sense of insecurity, which impacts engagement and satisfaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Happens Next<\/p>\n

As experts tell Newsweek, should current trends continue, companies may have to grapple with lower productivity and difficulties in attracting top talent. However, the effects on hiring may be blunted by persistent weakness in the labor market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Burnout among American workers has jumped to a six-year high, according to a recent study, as employees continue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203914,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[3445,49,48,46,2443,84,124,393,394,2618],"class_list":{"0":"post-203913","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mental-health","8":"tag-burnout","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-employment","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-jobs","15":"tag-mental-health","16":"tag-mentalhealth","17":"tag-stress"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203913\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}