Impacts of Burnout
Consider these five key statistics that are especially powerful when assessing burnout / mental-health impacts in an organization. These metrics help connect personal well-being to business outcomes:
1. Prevalence / incidence of burnout or mental health symptoms
In a recent poll, 52% of U.S. employees reported feeling burned out in the past year, and 37% said job overwhelm made it hard to do their work. NAMI
Another survey reported job burnout at 66%, an all-time high. Forbes
More broadly, 75% of U.S. workers say they’ve experienced at least one mental health challenge (anxiety, depression, grief, etc.). SHRM
Why this matters: Knowing how common burnout or mental health strain is gives you a baseline — if 1 in 2 employees feel the effects, it’s not a fringe problem.
2. Absenteeism, presenteeism & sick-leave correlations
Employees who feel burned out are 63% more likely to take a sick day. comployhr.com
Burnout is associated with increased presenteeism (working while unwell and underperforming). World Health Organization+2Spill+2
Globally, 12 billion working days are lost each year due to depression and anxiety (many via absenteeism or reduced productivity). World Health Organization
Why this matters: It links mental health directly to time lost and underperformance — crucial for cost calculations.
3. Productivity / performance impact
Higher stress scores correlate significantly with lower productivity in multiple studies. PMC
Workplaces that prioritize mental health report 13% higher productivity, and employees are 2.3× less likely to report stress. PLANADVISER
Disengagement tied to burnout can drive broader drops in innovation, quality, and effectiveness. American Psychological Association+1
Why this matters: This is how burnout/mental health show up in business outputs — not just “feeling bad,” but measurable loss.
4. Cost / economic burden
Burnout and disengagement may cost employers 0.2 to 2.9× the average cost of health insurance, and 3.3 to 17.1× the cost of training. AJP Mon Online
Poor mental health costs the global economy about US $1 trillion per year in lost productivity. World Health Organization+2Spill+2
Many employees (63%) actively look for another job when burned out. comployhr.com
Why this matters: It translates the human cost into dollars — making it easier to pitch resources, interventions, and ROI.
5. Retention / turnover risk
Burned-out employees are 2.6 times more likely to look for a new job. comployhr.com
In one survey, 34% of younger employees (18–29) and 28% of those 30–49 said they considered quitting because of mental health impacts of their job. NAMI+1
Also, stigma fears: 42% of workers worry their career would suffer if they disclosed mental health challenges. NAMI
Why this matters: High turnover is one of the costliest outcomes of burnout. If employees leave, you lose institutional knowledge, incur recruitment/training costs, and hurt morale.