While people of all age levels report burnout, Gen Z and millennials are reporting “peak burnout” at earlier ages. (Photo by voronaman on Shutterstock)
In A Nutshell
- When asked to describe their jobs in one word, workers most often said “tired,” “surviving,” or “meh.”
- 46% of U.S. employees have considered quitting because they feel emotionally exhausted or numb at work.
- Almost half say company changes make them feel indifferent, anxious, or nothing at all — signs of widespread detachment.
- 63% sometimes or often feel disconnected from colleagues despite constant digital communication.
- Most say they’re “just surviving” rather than thriving, and many no longer believe asking for help would make a difference.
- The study’s authors warn this emotional flatness could signal a new normal in how people relate to work.
BRISTOL, England — When asked to describe their relationship with work in one word, employees aren’t reaching for “fulfilling” or “rewarding.” Instead, they’re typing words like “tired,” “surviving,” “unfulfilling,” and “necessary.” Some go further: “blah,” “meh,” “adequate,” “autopilot.” One person simply wrote: “I’m here to get paid.”
These aren’t isolated complaints from a few disgruntled workers. New survey data from UK-based workplace learning company Sponge shows nearly half of workers, 46%, have considered leaving their positions due to emotional exhaustion or feeling numb at work. Another 3% already have.
The survey of 520 full-time employees at large companies discovered something that goes beyond the typical burnout narrative. Workers aren’t just stressed anymore. They’re checking out.
Change Feels Like Noise
While acute reactions like anxiety and overwhelm remain present, a deeper emotional state has taken hold. Researchers describe this as a new phase in workplace emotional shutdown, one marked by widespread detachment.
“What we’re seeing now is the impact of their endurance over the past decade, through years of uncertainty, disruption, and digital saturation that were further intensified by the pandemic,” the Sponge team wrote in their analysis. “This prolonged strain has given rise to a new set of dominant emotional experiences: not just stress in the moment, but a deeper state of numbness, self-preservation, and detachment.”
When companies announce new rules, ways of working, or strategies, 30% of employees report feeling “numb or indifferent.” Another 17% feel “nothing” at all. That’s nearly half the workforce greeting organizational change with emotional flatness rather than engagement.
Only 23% said such announcements make them feel “inspired or excited.” The remaining 30% reported feeling “overwhelmed or anxious.” For many workers, change has become something to endure rather than embrace.
Very Few Workers Are Thriving
When researchers asked which statement best captures how they feel about their careers today, 38% chose “I’m just surviving.” Another 17% said “I’m stuck.” Just 8% selected “I’m thriving.”
Even among the 35% who said they’re “building toward a future,” the accompanying qualitative responses often told a different story. When given space to elaborate in their own words, many used language that suggested resignation rather than ambition.
More than 63% of employees said they feel disconnected from colleagues sometimes, often, or always, despite constant digital connection through Slack, Teams, and Zoom. Only 14% said they never experience this disconnection. For those who do feel disconnected, the consequences show up in their work. Among the 326 respondents who answered a follow-up question about impact, 24% said they’ve become disengaged, 19% reported becoming more cynical, and 18% said they’ve been less productive or creative. Another 9% now avoid meetings or collaboration.
‘I Don’t Think It Would Make a Difference’
When workers are struggling, many aren’t seeking help. Asked what stops people from requesting support when they feel numb, overwhelmed, or indifferent, the most common response was telling: 38% said, “I don’t think it would make a difference.”
Another 21% said they don’t trust their manager or team. Roughly 12% worry it will affect how they’re perceived, while 13% said they don’t have time to deal with it. Only 7% reported feeling comfortable asking for help.
When more than a third of struggling employees believe that expressing their difficulties would be pointless, it points to a perception problem, if not an actual breakdown in workplace support systems. Whether or not programs exist, employees don’t believe they’ll help.
What’s Behind Job Detachment
Among workers who identified as experiencing negative emotions, researchers asked what they believed was the biggest contributing factor. Two causes stood out: 27% pointed to feeling undervalued, while 19% cited a lack of purpose or meaning in their work. Another 17% blamed unclear priorities or constant change. Other responses included fear of job loss or financial pressure (16%), too many digital meetings or tools (8%), and lack of real connection with colleagues (7%).
Six in ten workers say personal priorities around family, health, or finances conflict with job demands at least sometimes. About 42% said this happens sometimes, 12% said often, and 8% said always.
When asked how safe they feel expressing emotional concerns in their current role, only 26% said “very safe.” While 43% said “somewhat safe,” that leaves 23% who reported feeling “not very safe” and 9% who said “not at all safe.” Nearly one-third of workers don’t feel they can speak openly about emotional struggles at work.
What makes these numbers so concerning is what they say about the normalization of workplace emotional exhaustion. When asked to describe their jobs in a single word, workers chose terms that suggest endurance, not engagement. When nearly half have thought about leaving, it’s not because they’re having a bad week. It’s because feeling numb at work has become ordinary rather than exceptional.
Survey Methodology
Sponge conducted the survey in September 2025 through an independent survey provider. The company gathered responses from 520 full-time employees working at large organizations with 5,000 or more employees. Respondents represented a range of departments, roles, and experience levels. The survey combined quantitative questions with rating scales and multiple-choice options alongside qualitative questions that allowed for open-ended responses. To contextualize the survey findings, researchers also analyzed 40 third-party research sources about employee experience, workplace technology impact, and global events affecting work over the past decade. The margin of error for a sample of this size is approximately 4.3 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
I’ve become a big fan and learned a ton. Keep it up!
Modern day slavery. No more whips and chains and guns to enslave you. You pick your job, you pick your enslavement. It’s financial enslavement. Sorry.
It would be very interesting to see the numbers for American workers. I’ll bet that they are much higher.
Get a grip, people. Most of you wouldn’t have been able to even function back in the ’70s, 80’s, or 90’s. A bunch of soft, spoiled brats.
This is nothing new my parents were baby boomers and worked tirelessly so we can have a descent living. It looks like this is manufacturing consent for when thy put everyone out of work, which is what they’ve been doing since 2020. And the media has demonized us ever since.
I wonder why they do t find a new job?