Overcoming Overwork (HBR Women at Work Series)

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Women Do More to Fight Burnout—and It’s Burning Them Out

by Tiffany Burns, Jess Huang, Alexis Krivkovich, Ishanaa Rambachan, Tijana Trkulja, and Lareina Yee

Burnout is real and getting worse. The numbers are discouraging, for both men and women: 42% of women and 35% of men in corporate America felt burned out in 2021 (up from 32% and 28%, respectively, in 2020). One of three women surveyed say they have considered downshifting or leaving the workforce altogether. (In 2020, it was one in four.) These figures come from McKinsey and LeanIn.org’s 2021 Women in the Workplace report, which surveyed 65,000 people in the United States.¹

Despite their own increasing levels of burnout, our research also indicates that women are much more likely than ...