Burnout or Exploitation?

Welcome to my first post!

I’ll be using this space to share thoughts on workplace dynamics. What I’ve seen, what I’ve learned (sometimes the hard way), and what continues to stick with me after nearly 20 years in HR. My hope is that something here resonates with you and maybe even feels worth sharing with your team, your network, or someone close to you.

Today I am sharing a bit more about burnout. I’ve seen it show up in so many different ways. Sometimes it’s quiet: someone pulling back, missing deadlines, or keeping their camera off a little more often in team meetings. Other times it’s more raw where someone asks if they have enough PTO just to make it through the week, or holding back tears during a one-on-one.

Burnout has become such a common part of our workplace vocabulary that we almost treat it like a personal problem. Something to solve with better time management, stronger boundaries, or a meditation app. However, I recently came across something that made me stop and really think:

It hit me. Because I’ve felt it and I know I’m not alone. We rarely talk about the structural causes of burnout. But the truth is, it’s often not about someone’s inability to cope. It’s about the systems around them that make their job harder than it needs to be.

I had to do some more research on this topic to gather some data. What I found was globally, almost half of all workers report feeling burned out. In the U.S., that number is 52%, and in the UK, it’s close to 80%. I was surprised to learn that burnout rates tend to be higher in the UK than in the US but part of that comes down to cultural differences. In the UK, there has been more national attention on mental health in the workplace, which means people may be more likely to recognize and report burnout. On the other hand, US work culture often celebrates pushing through and staying productive, even at a cost to personal well-being.

In addition, there are also systemic factors at play. In the UK, sectors like healthcare and education have been stretched thin by years of budget cuts and staff shortages, leading to long-term stress. And while UK workers are legally entitled to more vacation, many report feeling unable to fully disconnect or having to catch up on work afterward, which limits the benefit of time off.

On the US side, burnout may be underreported, especially among underpaid workers who are more likely to experience things like wage theft, toxic environments, or lack of support but are less likely to have access to mental health resources or channels for reporting what they are going through.In both countries, burnout is real. The difference is often in how it is labeled, acknowledged, and addressed.

Burnout is especially high in environments where there’s chronic stress, little control, or lack of support. In healthcare alone, employees facing workplace harassment report burnout at 81%, compared to 42% for those who don’t.

It’s not just an emotional issue, it’s a financial one too. Burnout is costing companies over $300 billion a year in lost productivity and another $125 to $190 billion in healthcare costs. When you layer in workplace exploitation, wage theft in the U.S. costs workers an estimated 50 billion dollars a year. In major cities, nearly 70% of underpaid workers have experienced some form of pay violation, losing about 15% of their annual income.

So when someone says they’re burned out, we have to ask exactly what they are burned out from? Burnout isn’t always about the volume of work. It’s about the context. It’s about people being expected to carry too much emotional labor (hello, to my HR people), navigate toxic dynamics, or operate without clarity, support, or recognition.

When someone is consistently asked to do more with less, to stretch beyond what’s reasonable, or to absorb tension from leadership or colleagues without acknowledgement, that’s not just exhausting. It’s exploitative. When we respond to those signals with surface level fixes like wellness apps, gratitude journals, or a lunch-and-learn, we risk missing the point entirely.

If you lead people, influence culture, or just want to do right by your team, here are a few places to start:

• Take a closer look at norms and expectations. Might your team be receiving signals that overextending themselves is expected or necessary? Recognition programs, shoutouts, and team norms often celebrate those who push through or take on too much without pause. That kind of reinforcement can quietly normalize grind culture, even when it’s not what we intend.

• Make pay and workload make sense. If someone’s responsibilities have grown but their compensation hasn’t, that disconnect can quickly lead to resentment. I’ve seen this happen far too often, usually due to budget constraints. If raises aren’t possible, consider how you can adjust priorities or take something off your team member's plate. Better yet, introduce a stipend or short-term incentive to recognize the added value. We can’t keep asking more without giving something back.

• Check in with intention. Ask how people are really doing and be prepared to hear hard truths. This is where vulnerability matters. In my experience, most employees won’t open up unless leaders first acknowledge what they already know is challenging. A simple “I know things have been heavy lately” can open the door to real, honest conversation.

• Name what’s happening. Burnout driven by structural issues won’t be solved with self-care tips or time-blocking workshops. If the workload is unsustainable, the culture is toxic, or expectations are unclear, individual coping strategies will fall short. Work with your team to name the root cause—and then partner on solutions that address it together. 

If you have ever felt like burnout was your fault, I want you to know this: it is not. You’re not broken. Sometimes it’s not about you at all and it’s about the environment you’re trying to do your best in. When we start to name what’s really going on, we create space for something better. And that’s where real change begins.