CHRO Survey: Employee burnout is a real concern

The AI era is bringing enormous opportunity, as well as disruption, to workers across the economy. Nowhere is this more pronounced than in the tech sector — a perennial early adopter of new technologies. 

These changes are putting new strains on the workforce and have pushed employee well-being to the top of CHROs’ to-do lists, according to our latest survey. With burnout emerging as a nearly universal concern, people leaders are redoubling efforts to ensure workforces are able to adapt and thrive in a time of unprecedented change. 

“AI is reshaping the workforce in profound ways, creating both new opportunities and real uncertainty,” says Michelle Aylott, managing partner and CHRO of SoftBank Investment Advisers. “It’s encouraging to see people leaders focused on helping employees navigate this transition with clarity, confidence, and support.” 

Here’s a deeper look at how CHROs are refocusing their priorities to meet today’s challenges. Explore the full survey results, segmented by region, sector, and stage on Sōzō Pulse.

Employees are increasingly stretched thin, and CHROs know it: 96% say they are concerned about employee burnout in the next year.

Burnout, officially recognized by the WHO as a response to chronic workplace stressors, extends well beyond feeling tired or overwhelmed. It is fueled by factors such as excessive workloads, limited autonomy, insufficient recognition, and a lack of community at work.

“It describes what happens when you used to have passion and enthusiasm for your job and then it’s gone,” says Christina Maslach, a UC Berkeley psychology professor who created one of the most widely used burnout assessments. “The stress of the work eats you alive.” 

The “AI fluency” expectation

CHROs suggest burnout is driven by a convergence of trends. Ongoing restructuring and economic uncertainty have reduced workforces, leaving remaining employees to absorb heavier workloads. Not surprisingly, 68% of CHROs say workload and staffing constraints are the primary driver of burnout. 

At the same time, the rollout of AI is adding new layers of complexity. Employees face growing uncertainty about their roles, heightened productivity expectations, and, in many cases, insufficient training or support. As a result, adaptation itself becomes a source of strain. CHROs recognize this dynamic: 65% identify organizational change and uncertainty as a leading contributor to burnout. 

“We’re at a stage where AI isn’t reducing work — it’s intensifying it,” says Jeanne Meister, a global human resources consultant and author of The Future Workplace: 10 Rules for Mastering Disruption in Recruiting and Engaging Employees. “There’s growing pressure to be fluent in AI, and many people are stretching into new areas as it expands their scope. Then it becomes, ‘I’ll just send one more prompt before I leave my desk,’ and suddenly the workday keeps getting longer.”

Managing burnout proactively

Encouragingly, many organizations are taking action: 54% of CHROs report taking a proactive or strategic approach to burnout, such as early detection efforts or embedding burnout management into broader workforce planning. Still, 35% remain reactive, addressing issues only as they arise, and 11% report having no formal approach at all.

Experts like Maslach emphasize that the most effective solutions start with listening. Leaders should engage employees with practical, collaborative questions: How can we make things better? What small changes would improve the way work gets done?

“My research consistently shows that employees know what needs to change for them to be happier and more productive,” Maslach says. “Often, it’s these small, chronic, everyday issues, like pebbles in your shoe that drive you nuts. The good news is that many of these problems can be relatively easy to fix.”

As employees navigate macroeconomic uncertainty and the growing threat of job disruption, mental health has surfaced as a central concern for CHROs: 59% identify employee mental and emotional health as their top wellness priority, well ahead of fostering social connection and belonging (39%) and supporting work-life balance (26%). 

This shift reflects a broader change in how organizations approach emotional well-being. Many leaders are moving beyond sporadic perks toward treating mental health as a core component of employee care. They are expanding access to resources like confidential counseling, mental health days, and more structured support systems.

Livia Martini, chief people officer at Wellhub, a corporate wellness platform provider, says employee wellness efforts are only effective when they take a holistic approach. “It can’t just be a perk. It has to be consistent, deliberate, and structured in a way that employees can actually use,” she says. She points to one company that offered 70 different wellness providers, adding, “That puts a huge toll on the employee to figure out how to actually use it,” she says.

Prioritizing mental and emotional health 

This heightened focus appears to be making a difference. By prioritizing mental and emotional health, organizations seem to be stabilizing culture, even amid ongoing disruption: 44% of CHROs report their organization’s culture is “thriving,” the same percentage as last year. Meanwhile, just 11% describe their culture as “frayed,” down from the 15% a year ago.

Still, maintaining employee mental wellness remains challenging. Budget constraints are the primary barrier, cited by 50% of CHROs, limiting the ability to expand or deepen support.

The greater risk, however, may lie ahead. CHROs note a growing disconnect between employee expectations and organizational realities, with 59% identifying that gap as the top culture-related threat to retention.

Experts caution that addressing mental health at the individual level is only part of the solution. Lasting progress requires organizational or structural changes to the work environment. “Burnout and chronic stressors in the workplace are always a canary in the coal mine for organizational problems,” says Maslach. “It’s not just the canary you need to worry about. It’s the coal mine.”

Employee trust remains strong, despite stresses

Even so, organizations are not starting from scratch. As companies enter this next phase of uncertainty, many have a critical advantage: employee trust. Every CHRO in our survey said they are either somewhat or very confident that employee trust in leadership is strong enough to sustain engagement and retention through change.