Work Different

CHAPTER 2Stressed Out, Burnt Out, and Quietly Quitting

Anxiety.

Exhaustion.

Depression.

Unsustainable work habits.

Unrealistic work expectations.

One trillion dollars in lost productivity, yearly.¹

Yes, this is a rough way to start a chapter, but there are people at your company who experience all of that on a daily basis due primarily to their job situation. Imagine how rough it is for them.

We're often asked if it's true that a notable percentage of workers across the world feel overworked, underappreciated, and undervalued. Unfortunately, from what we've seen—and we've seen a lot—the answer is a resounding yes. To that end, Mercer’s research told us that workers' energy levels around the world dropped by 11% from 2019 to 2021. Perceptions of burnout risk rose from an already unpalatable 63% of workers globally feeling at risk pre‐pandemic to a shocking 81% just two years later!²

With one in two workers reporting that they feel exhausted on any given day, medical claims on the rise, and a significant proportion of workers failing to return to work from their long‐term sick leave, it's clear that not all workers are thriving.³ The challenge, though, is that by the time we see signs of distress, it's often too late to turn it around.

Not good. Which begs the question: What are organizations getting wrong?

Has work really become such a health hazard, or are people just less resilient than before? Is this mental health crisis more evident simply because workers are speaking up ...