Burnout in the workplace: a fresh perspective for HR leaders in 2025

Burnout is one of the most discussed workplace challenges, yet despite the attention, it's not going away. If anything, it's getting worse. As we navigate 2025, HR leaders are facing a new era of burnout, shaped by evolving workplace dynamics, economic pressures, and shifting employee expectations.

So, what's really driving burnout today, and more importantly, how can organisations prevent it, rather than just react to it?

The numbers that tell a human story

Behind every statistic is a person, but recent UK research numbers are too significant to ignore. Burnout is now costing UK businesses an estimated £38 billion annually - up 22% from 2022.¹

What does that mean in human terms? It means your team member who's called in sick 15 times this year might be battling burnout. It means the colleague who seems to be moving in slow motion, taking twice as long to complete tasks, isn't lazy - they're likely operating at the 69% productivity level typical of someone experiencing burnout.² And that talented professional who left your company last quarter? They might well be among the 42% of UK workers who cited burnout as their reason for resigning.³

These aren't cold statistics, they're the lived experiences of people we work with every day.

The surprising faces of burnout

If you picture burnout victims as primarily entry-level staff or frontline workers, it's time to update that mental image. Middle managers are actually suffering the most, with 53% reporting burnout symptoms.⁴

Think about it, these are the people caught between delivering on executive expectations while supporting their teams through constant change. They're fielding pressure from all directions while often having less decision-making power than their responsibilities would warrant.

And those seemingly cushioned sectors with the beautiful offices and comprehensive benefits packages? Technology, healthcare, and financial services in the UK are exceeding the national burnout average by 18%.⁵ This tells us something profound: perks and simple benefits aren't addressing the fundamental issues driving burnout.

Reading between the lines of workplace behaviour

Before burnout manifests as resignation letters or long-term absences, subtle indicators appear in your workplace:

Have you noticed a team that used to volunteer for every initiative now responding with a lukewarm "we'll see"? Or perhaps you've witnessed typically level-headed colleagues becoming disproportionately frustrated over minor issues? These aren't personality changes, they're signs of emotional and mental depletion.

Recognising these signals creates opportunities for early intervention, which is always more effective than crisis management.

How burnout has evolved - and why it matters

Remember when we thought burnout was simply about working too many hours? Today's burnout has evolved into something more complex.⁶

We're now seeing what researchers call "digital overwhelm" - that feeling when your laptop pings with emails, your phone buzzes with notifications, and Teams meetings fill your calendar back-to-back. Our brains simply weren't designed for this constant digital stimulation.

Add to that the unique challenges of hybrid work, where remote team members report feeling they need to "prove" their productivity whilst office-based staff feel they're carrying additional in-person responsibilities. This creates uneven burnout patterns within the same UK teams.⁷

Meanwhile, economic pressures mean many of us feel we can't say no to additional work, even when we're already at capacity. And with four generations working side by side, differing expectations about boundaries and work ethic create friction that drains everyone's energy.⁸

Building organisations where people can thrive

Here's a radical thought: instead of trying to make people more resilient to unreasonable demands, what if we built organisations that don't make unreasonable demands in the first place?

Companies recognised for their workplace wellbeing aren't just focusing on teaching meditation or stress management (though those have their place).⁹ They're fundamentally rethinking how work happens:

• They regularly ask: "is this workload actually possible for the humans we employ?"
• They create true rest periods – no expectation of checking messages or "just finishing one thing"
• They make it normal to say "I'm struggling" without career penalty
• They ensure leaders model sane working patterns (no more praise for the exec sending emails at 3am)
• They create a genuine ecosystem of support with their Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) at the centre, not the periphery

So what now?

The organisations that will thrive aren't the ones still debating whether burnout is real or significant. They're the ones already redesigning work to match human capacity, setting boundaries that honour energy limits, and creating genuine support systems.

The question isn't whether you can afford to address burnout properly. Given what we now know about its impact on UK businesses, the question is whether you can afford not to.

Sources

1. https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/culture/well-being/health-well-being-work
2. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity
3. https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/pages/consulting/articles/working-well-survey.html
4. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/workplace-stress-survey-2024
5. https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.htm
6. https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/workplace-burnout-research
7. https://www.employment-studies.co.uk/resource/flexible-working-index
8. https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/work/trends/multigenerational-workplace
9. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/best-places-to-work-2024