Burnout Trends Report: 200+ Employee Stress Stats by Department

Workplace burnout, or job burnout, is chronic work-related stress that leaves employees feeling emotionally and physically exhausted. As the global workforce evolved into a hybrid work model over the past two and a half years, employees have been asked to take on larger workloads, attend more meetings, and work longer hours to meet the demands of their organization - and the cost has been great to both employees and employers.

As one of the biggest challenges organizations face today, workplace burnout has been a major driver to the Great Resignation wave, or the Big Quit, where thousands of employees still today are voluntarily resigning from their positions to seek a break from the crushing weight of workplace stress, and seek employment that fosters a healthier work-life balance to improve their personal wellbeing.

While this economic trend is still very relevant, many employees are handling workplace stress in a new trending phenomenon known as quiet quitting. As a bit of a misnomer, these workers are not actually quitting their jobs as part of the Great Resignation. Instead, 'quiet quitters' are unsubscribing from the hustle culture mentality of constantly overextending themselves at work in response to the long-term exhaustion from larger task loads, compromised work-life balance, and a lack of positive company culture. 

The average workweek has actually increased by 2.6% to 45.8 hours, up from 44.6 hours in November 2021, and still 78.7% of employees report feeling stressed due to increasing tasks with not enough time to get it all done every week. So, while workers who are quiet quitting are staying at their companies and completing their essential duties, they're no longer going above and beyond in their roles -- especially when their extra efforts are unrecognized and have left them feeling burnt out.

This workplace burnout trends report surveying over 700 busy professionals reveals how many hours the average person works a week across role type and team department, what their current burnout level is, and what are the top issues currently contributing to burnout and quiet quitting, and what employees want from their organizations to reduce burnout and improve job satisfaction.

Report overview

Average workweek length statistics

Average burnout statistics

Top issues that contribute to burnout

What do employees want to alleviate their burnout?

Burnout stats across roles:

• Sales professionals
• Software & engineering professionals
• Product professionals
• Marketing professionals
• Operations & HR professionals
• Finance & accounting professionals
• CEOs, owners & founders
• Freelancers & consultants
• Students

Looking for more productivity trends? Check out our Scheduling Trends Report, Meeting Trends Report, or Task Management Trends Report.

Average workweek length statistics

While we're all accustomed to working the 40-hour workweek to pay the bills, it turns out we're putting in way more hours than that every week. Employees are reporting record-high hours worked each week. Let's take a look at the results:

• The average workweek is 45.8 hours for ALL employees, 2.6% higher than 44.6 average in November 2021
• The average workweek for full-time employees is 47.6 hours (35+ hours/week)
• 69.3% of professionals work +40 hours/week
• 29.3% of professionals work +50 hours/week
• 9.4% of professionals work +60 hours/week
• 2.7% of professionals work +70 hours/week

Assuming that the average professional works roughly 48 weeks a year, excluding 4 week for PTO and sick leave, they are averaging an additional 276.3 hours of work each year, and that's including part-time workers in the average. That's an extra 6.9 workweeks! So employees are actually working way more than the standard 52-week year by almost 3 weeks.

Average workweek length for managers vs. execs vs. ICs

So who is working the most hours across the organization? We break down the results across executives, managers, and individual contributors to see how many hours employees report working each week.

• Executives average 51.2 hour workweeks (48.3 hours including part-time workers)
• Managers average 47.1 hour workweeks (46.1 hours including part-time workers)
• ICs average 46.6 hour workweeks (44.7 hours including part-time workers)

Executives reported by far the highest number of hours worked each week, with over 4 more hours than managers and individual contributors who resulted much closer to our average for full-time workers. This equates to over 170 additional hours executives work above the average employee, or 536 additional hours each year over the standard 40-hour workweek. Managers also reported an additional 30 minutes of work a week above individual contributors, or the equivalent to a little more than half of an additional workweek a year.

Average workweek length by team/department

Now that we've looked at the average workweek length by role type, let's take a look at how the average workweek breaks down across team departments.

• Sales professionals average 47.1 hour workweeks (45.9 hours including part-time workers)
• Software/engineering professionals average 46.3 hour workweeks (44.8 hours including part-time workers)
• Product professionals average 45.3 hour workweeks (43.7 hours including part-time workers)
• Marketers average 46.3 hour workweeks (46.0 hours including part-time workers)
• Operations/HR professionals average 48.7 hour workweeks (46.9 hours including part-time workers)
• Finance/accounting professionals average 48.4 hour workweeks (47.1 hours including part-time workers)
• CEOs/owners/founders average 51.9 hour workweeks (48.3 hours including part-time workers)
• Freelance/consultants average 50.4 hour workweeks
• Students average 49.7 hour workweeks (44.4 hours including part-time workers)

Similar to our analysis by role type, we found that CEOs, owners, and founders worked the most hours each week, averaging almost 52 hours, closely followed by freelancers and consultants who also average over 50 hours a week. Four team departments reported below our average full-time workweek of 47.6 hours, which was sales teams, software and engineering teams, product teams, and marketing teams.

Average burnout statistics

Long workweeks can be painful, but are they a strong indicator of burnout? We asked over 700 busy professionals how burnt out they feel from 0%, I'm in it for the long haul, to 100%, I'm completely burnt out and on the verge of quitting.

• Employees averaged a 60.2% burnout rate
• Burnout has decreased by 2.7% since last year
• Only 2.7% of people reported a* 0% burnout level*
• 5.3% of people reported a 100% burnout level

Despite well over half the workforce reporting burnout as of October 2022, burnout has actually decreased by almost 3% in the last year. However, only 2.7% of people feel zero impact of burnout in their current role, and almost twice this amount feel 100% burnt out and ready to quit their job.

Average burnout levels for managers vs. execs vs. ICs

Let's take a look at current burnout levels for executives, managers, and individual contributors in October of 2022 vs. October of 2021.

Surprisingly, executives, managers, and individual contributors ranked very similar burnout levels in October of 2021, each averaging over a 60% burnout rate. This number decreased most dramatically for executives who now average only 55.8% burnout levels in October 2022, down a full 10% in one year. Individual contributors also saw over a 3% reduction in burnout, and only managers' burnout levels have increased this year, rising a full 2% now in October 2022.

Average burnout levels by team department

Which teams are the most burnt out in Q4 2022 vs. Q4 2021? Let's take a look at burnout levels across departments.

Based on these surveyed results, it appears that finance and accounting teams face the highest burnout rates by far at 73.1%, even after an 11.7% reduction in burnout since October 2021. This is also over 5% higher than the second highest burnout group of students who reported a burnout rate of 67.4% in October 2022, a full 15% higher than this time last year. Marketing, software and engineering, and CEOs, owners and founders all reported the lowest burnout rates at roughly 55% in October 2022, where all reported burnout rates in the low 60% in October of 2021.

Top issues that contribute to burnout 

Now that we understand the current burnout level across organizations, let's take a look at which factors are most contributing to burnout in October 2022.

1. 63.4% report lack of time for focused work
2. 59.9% report notification & distraction fatigue
3. 52.2% report lack of work-life balance/not enough time off
4. 48.2% report too many meetings
5. 39.4% report workdays running too long
6. 23.2% report poor working conditions/company culture
7. 22.1% report inadequate pay
8. 21.1% report lack of room for career advancement
9. 16.1% report poor company performance

So what's causing the most burnout across busy professionals? It turns out that 63.4% of people are burnt out because they just don't have enough time to get their actual work done. This is 3.5% higher than the second highest burnout contributor of notification and distraction fatigue at 59.9%, which is probably contributing to the lack of time for focused work, alongside too many meetings which came in at 48.2%.

While you might assume things like inadequate pay or lack of room for career advancement would be at the top of the list, they actually ranked at the bottom with just over 20% reporting this as a contributing factor to burnout. The least reported factor was poor company performance at just 16.1%.

Top burnout issues for managers vs. execs vs. ICs

Which role types are most affected by these burnout factors? Let's take a look at how these issues contribute to burnout across executives, managers, and individual contributors. 

The highest burnout factors again across all categories is the same as the highest for all employees -- lack of time for focused work. While both executives and managers reported much higher at over 70%, individual contributors still reported high against other factors at 58.9%. Individual contributors also reported 58.9% for lack of work-life balance or not enough time off at over a 10% higher level than executives and managers for this factor. However, individual contributors only reported 41.5% for too many meetings contributing to their burnout, compared to 54.5% for executives and 56.2% for managers.

What do employees want to alleviate their burnout?

Now that we understand what's contributing to burnout, let's take a look at which factors have or would likely alleviate burnout levels for busy professionals.

1. 69.4% More time for focused work
2. 54.4% Better work-life balance / more time off
3. 53.4% Fewer notifications and distractions
4. 42.8% Shorter workdays
5. 42.4% Fewer meetings
6. 29.8% Higher pay
7. 24.5% Better working conditions / company culture
8. 19.6% More room for career advancement
9. 16.6% Better company performance

Still number one on our list is the opportunity to provide employees with more time for focused work on their actual tasks, reported by nearly 70% as a factor that would alleviate their burnout. While better work-life balance, notification fatigue, and shorter workdays remained high, fewer meetings actually dropped by almost 6% for what would alleviate burnout vs. what is contributing to it. Higher pay also rose by over 7% when comparing what alleviates burnout vs. contributing to it, indicating that current salaries aren't causing workplace stress, but a higher salary would surely ease the pain.

Alleviating burnout stats for managers vs. execs vs. ICs

Do executives vs. managers vs. individual contributors want different things when it comes to alleviating burnout? Let's take a look.

Executives ranked by far the lowest for some of the obvious improvements that would alleviate burnout, such as room for career advancement, better working conditions, and higher pay as these are likely less felt by leaders at the top of the organization, but did rank better company performance highest among the three role types as the performance of the organization has a much greater weight on their contribution to the company. While managers typically sat in the middle of these results, they did rank the highest out of role types for more time for focused work by over 3/4ths of all managers, over ½ wanting fewer meetings, and fewer distractions at 55.7% believing this would alleviate their burnout at work. Individual contributors did rank highest by role type for higher pay, work-life balance, and shorter workdays.

Let's see how these burnout issues break down across teams and departments.

Burnout stats for sales professionals

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting salespeople. 

• 33.3% of salespeople are burnt out from long workdays (40.0% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 55.6% of salespeople are* burnt out from lack of work-life balance or time off* (64.4% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 60.0% of salespeople are burnt out from too many meetings (46.7% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 62.2% of salespeople are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (66.7% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 57.8% of salespeople are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (53.3% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 22.2% of salespeople are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (28.9% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 22.2% of salespeople are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (20.0% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 17.8% of salespeople are burnt out from inadequate pay (33.3% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 11.1% of salespeople are burnt out from poor company performance (15.6% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

What do salespeople want to stay happy and reduce burnout at work? Not necessarily the same things that are causing their burnout in the first place. While only 17.8% of salespeople are burnt out from inadequate pay, almost twice as many report that higher pay would alleviate their burnout. Salespeople are also feeling the weight of their heavy meeting load, as 60.0% report meetings are contributing to their burnout compared to the overall average of just 48.2%. Salespeople also reported 5.0% lower than average on burnout from poor company performance, which is surprising as sales-roles are so performance-driven, but this may just indicate that poor performance is not an issue they face here in October 2022.

Burnout stats for software & engineering professionals

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting software and engineering teams. 

• 36.8% of software/engineers are burnt out from long workdays (38.7% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 52.3% of software/engineers are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (50.3% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 53.5% of software/engineers are burnt out from too many meetings (49.0% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 67.7% of software/engineers are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (68.4% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 60.0% of software/engineers are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (57.4% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 20.6% of software/engineers are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (16.8% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 20.6% of software/engineers are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (24.5% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 26.5% of software/engineers are burnt out from inadequate pay (30.3% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 18.1% of software/engineers are burnt out from poor company performance (15.5% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

Software and engineering professionals average 1.3 hour shorter workweeks than the average professional, and as a result, are 6% less affected by long workdays with an average of 36.8% vs. 42.8% for all professionals. They are, however, much more affected by meetings at over 10% higher burnout rate from too many meetings vs. the average professional, and software and engineering professionals are also reporting 6.6% higher contribution to burnout from notification fatigue than the overall average.

Burnout stats for product professionals

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting product teams. 

• 44.2% of product professionals are burnt out from long workdays (51.9% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 50.0% of product professionals are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (51.9% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 61.2% of product professionals are burnt out from too many meetings (57.7% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 69.2% of product professionals are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (71.2% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 59.6% of product professionals are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (55.8% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 23.1% of product professionals are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (19.2% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 36.5% of product professionals are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (38.5% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 23.1% of product professionals are burnt out from inadequate pay (32.7% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 23.1% of product professionals are burnt out from poor company performance (19.2% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

While the average full-time product professional works 2.3 hours less than the average person, 44.2% of them feel that long workdays are contributing to their burnout, and over 50% believe shorter workdays would alleviate this stress. Only 23.1% of product professionals feel that inadequate pay is contributing to their burnout, while almost 10% more believe more money would or has alleviated their burnout level. Product teams are also more impacted by poor company performance than the average professional, reporting a 7.0% higher burnout rate from this issue.

Burnout stats for marketing professionals

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting marketing teams. 

• 25.5% of marketers are burnt out from long workdays (36.2% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 36.2% of marketers are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (38.3% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 57.4% of marketers are burnt out from too many meetings (48.9% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 74.5% of marketers are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (76.6% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 66.0% of marketers are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (53.2% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 17.0% of marketers are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (12.8% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 17.0% of marketers are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (17.0% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 17.0% of marketers are burnt out from inadequate pay (25.5% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 17.0% of marketers are burnt out from poor company performance (19.1% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

Marketers reported over a 10% difference in long workdays contributing to their burnout at 25.5%, compared to 36.2% who feel shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout. Marketing teams also reported way below average for burnout from lack of work-life balance at only 36.2%, compared to 52.2% average across all professionals. They were the second highest team to rank lack of time for focused work as a major burnout contributor at 74.5%, affecting almost three quarters of all marketing professionals.

Burnout stats for operations & HR professionals

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting operations and HR teams. 

• 41.9% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from long workdays (40.3% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 50.0% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (51.6% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 53.2% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from too many meetings (41.9% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 71.0% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (75.8% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 58.1% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (41.9% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 29.0% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (29.0% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 11.3% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (12.9% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 25.8% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from inadequate pay (43.5% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 12.9% of operations & HR professionals are burnt out from poor company performance (14.5% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

Operations and HR professionals, who actually average 1.1 hour longer workweeks than the average professional, report a 1.5% higher average burnout contributing from longer workdays, but 1.6% say that shorter workdays would not alleviate burnout. They also ranked 5.0% higher for too many meetings vs. the average professional, and 7.6% higher for lack of time for focused work as they are likely burdened with the additional workload of managing and retaining talent in these tumultuous times.

Burnout stats for finance & accounting professionals

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting finance and accounting teams. 

• 25.0% of finance professionals are burnt out from long workdays (25.0% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 58.3% of finance professionals are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (58.3% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 8.3% of finance professionals are burnt out from too many meetings (41.7% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 83.3% of finance professionals are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (66.7% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 50.0% of finance professionals are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (50.0% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 8.3% of finance professionals are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (8.3% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 8.3% of finance professionals are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (33.3% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 25.0% of finance professionals are burnt out from inadequate pay (33.3% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 8.3% of finance professionals are burnt out from poor company performance (8.3% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

Finance and accounting teams were the department to most closely rank the factors that are contributing to their burnout levels with the ones that would alleviate burnout, scoring exactly the same across long workdays, work-life balance, notification fatigue, career advancement, and company performance.

The lowest ranked burnout level contributed from long workdays, only 25.0% of finance and accounting professionals reported being affected by this issue. And it's not the long workdays that are stressing finance professionals, it's not having enough time to get through their actual work, with the highest ranked issue across all professionals at 83.3% affected by lack of time for focused work.

Burnout stats for CEOs, owners & founders

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting CEOs, owners, and founders.

• 35.6% of CEOs are burnt out from long workdays (39.0% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 47.5% of CEOs are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (57.6% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 45.8% of CEOs are burnt out from too many meetings (39.0% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 64.4% of CEOs are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (72.9% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 57.6% of CEOs are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (57.6% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 1.7% of CEOs are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (0% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 8.5% of CEOs are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (3.4% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 11.9% of CEOs are burnt out from inadequate pay (13.6% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 27.1% of CEOs are burnt out from poor company performance (25.4% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

CEOs ranked by far the highest full-time hours worked every week at a 51.9 hour average compared to 47.6 for all other full time workers, but only 35.6% feel that these long workdays are contributing to their burnout level. They also ranked below average for all other categories, except lack of time for focused work at 1% above average, and poor company performance where they ranked 11% above the average employee. 

Burnout stats for freelancers & consultants

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting freelancers and consultants.

• 42.9% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from long workdays (57.1% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 64.3% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (78.6% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 28.6% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from too many meetings (14.3% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 57.1% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (64.3% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 64.3% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (64.3% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 21.4% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (14.3% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 0% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (7.1% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 14.3% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from inadequate pay (42.9% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 7.1% of freelancers/consultants are burnt out from poor company performance (7.1% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

Full-time freelancers and consultants work a lot of hours, over 50 a week, yet only 42.9% feel this is contributing to their current burnout level. However, 57.1% say fewer hours would alleviate their burnout, over 14% higher than the 42.8% average for all workers. But these long hours are having their impact, over 64.3% of freelancers are burnt out over lack of work-life balance and not enough time off compared to the 52.2% average. Freelance work does come with its advantages though -- 0% of freelancers are burnt out over poor working conditions as they have the flexibility to set their own hours and work environment compared to those employed by organizations who set the conditions.

Burnout stats for students

Let's take a look at the top burnout issues affecting students.

• 53.1% of students are burnt out from long workdays (53.1% say shorter workdays would alleviate their burnout).
• 56.3% of students are burnt out from lack of work-life balance or not having enough time off (62.5% say more work-life balance would alleviate their burnout).
• 12.5% of students are burnt out from too many meetings (9.4% say fewer meetings would alleviate their burnout).
• 40.6% of students are burnt out from lack of time for focused work (68.8% say more time for focused work would alleviate their burnout).
• 43.8% of students are burnt out from notification and distraction fatigue (43.8% say fewer notifications would alleviate their burnout).
• 18.8% of students are burnt out from lack of room for career advancement (21.9% say more career advancement opportunities would alleviate their burnout).
• 31.3% of students are burnt out from poor working conditions or company culture (31.3% say better working conditions would alleviate their burnout).
• 25.0% of students are burnt out from inadequate pay (25.0% say higher pay would alleviate their burnout).
• 12.5% of students are burnt out from poor company performance (18.8% say better company performance would alleviate their burnout).

Students are another group that ranked well above average for full-time hours worked each week, averaging over 2 hours more than the average worker, and that stress is affecting the majority of students with 53.1% saying this contributes to their current burnout. Students are less burdened with some of the common issues affecting many professionals, with only 12.5% reporting too many meetings are contributing to burnout, and 40.6% who feel they lack the time they need for focused work, over 20% lower than the average across all workers. However, students ranked poor working conditions almost 8% higher than the average professional, as many students may be working more entry-level jobs with fewer benefits to ease the daily stress of the workplace.\
At Reclaim.ai, we're focused on helping busy teams tame their complex, and ever-changing schedules by helping them optimize their calendars around their true priorities, and gathered this research to better understand the biggest issues affecting teams work-life balance and burnout levels in todays workplace. To learn more about the complexities of managing a chaotic schedule in a busy organization, check out our other recent trends reports:

• Meeting Scheduling Trends Report
• Task Management Trends Report
• 1:1 Meeting Trends Report