Resume Now Report: 2025 Worker Burnout & What’s Next in 2026

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Table of contents

1. The Burnout Reckoning
2. The Value Equation
3. The Morality Gap
4. The Disappearing Worker

The workforce spent much of 2025 in survival mode, navigating intensifying burnout, rising financial strain, and a workplace climate that fueled widespread disengagement.

The Great Workplace Reckoning Report from Resume Now brings together findings from nine 2025 surveys to share employee burnout statistics and outline how these challenges defined the year and what they signal for 2026.

1. The Burnout Reckoning

Reports: The Price of Extra Work | Productivity Drain | Time-Wasting Report

Workers began the year navigating extra responsibilities and a workload increasingly bogged down by busy work. These stressors played a key role in the burnout many employees faced in the early months of 2025.

59% of workers said they frequently experience burnout due to difficulty of saying "no" to extra work.
51% reported that their work often or always involves busy work, with 54% feeling they lack a voice in addressing inefficiencies.
Data showed that 6 in 10 workers lose over a month of productivity every year to work distractions.

2026 outlook: If companies can't curb burnout, workers will. This year will test who learned from the backlash. Employers that reward balance and output over hours will keep talent.

2. The Value Equation

Reports: Wage Reality Report | Career Gridlock Report

Pay remained one of 2025's strongest stressors. Salary stagnation, inflation, and blocked advancement left workers rethinking the value of their labor.

73% of workers struggled to afford anything beyond basic living expenses.
60% of workers reported feeling trapped in jobs they want to leave.
57% cited the desire for better pay and benefits as their top motivation for switching careers.

2026 outlook: Leverage replaces loyalty. Expect tougher negotiations and compensation treated as the clearest measure of respect.

3. The Morality Gap

Reports: Dirty Moves Report | Values Gap Report | Ethics Fallout Report

Tensions over ethics, fairness, and workplace politics intensified. Workers struggled with how to handle unethical behaviors happening around them.

61% of employees stated they have been thrown under the bus at work, with 32% experiencing it multiple times.
70% reported seeing leaders bend rules or engage in favoritism at work.
47% had considered quitting because their employer's actions didn't align with its stated values.

2026 outlook: Trust becomes the new retention strategy. Employees will measure integrity as closely as income.

4. The Disappearing Worker

Report: Ghostworking Report

Disengagement quietly spread in 2025 as employees withdrew effort in response to burnout and disillusionment.

58% of employees admitted to regularly pretending to work.
92% of workers said they have job-searched during work hours.
24% revealed they had edited their resumes on the clock, with 23% having even applied for jobs using work computers.

2026 outlook: The "ghostworking" honesty gap will challenge leaders to reignite real engagement without demanding blind devotion.

Methodology

The findings draw from multiple Resume Now surveys conducted throughout 2025, each polling 800–1,200 U.S. workers across industries, company sizes, and career levels. Responses were collected online through qualified panels and anonymized to identify national trends.

About Resume Now

Resume Now is a powerful resource dedicated to helping job-seekers achieve their potential. Resume Now's AI Resume Builder is a cutting-edge tool that makes creating a resume fast, easy, and painless. Resume Now has been dedicated to serving job seekers since 2005. Alongside its powerful AI Resume Builder and stylish ready-to-use templates, it also features free advice for job seekers at every career stage, guides for every step of the hiring process, and free resources for writing cover letters. Resume Now is committed to supporting job seekers and workers alike and has conducted numerous surveys related to the experience, trends, and culture of the workplace. These surveys have been featured in Business Insider, CNBC, Fast Company, Yahoo!, Forbes, and more. Keep up with Resume Now on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and Pinterest.
For press inquiries, contact Kathy Gardner at kathy.gardner@bold.com.

Keith is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and trusted media source in the career industry with over a decade of experience helping job seekers stand out.