28th August 2025
91% of adults in the UK reported experiencing high pressure or stress, highlighting the worrying prevalence of burnout.1 This issue is something being faced in workplaces across industries, from construction and manufacturing to law and finance.
A survey of the UK construction industry revealed that 13% of workers have experienced burnout.2 Meanwhile, stress and burnout account for nearly three in five work-related absences in the manufacturing sector.3 Whatever the industry, this has a significant impact on both employee mental health and business operations.
Our guide is here to help you learn how to identify the main symptoms of burnout and how you can support your team.
What is burnout?
Burnout syndrome is a type of stress which can lead to individuals feeling worn out or exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally. It isn’t a recognised medical or mental health condition, but instead the term is used to refer to a collection of symptoms or signs associated with a specific health-related cause.4
Burnout is common in workplaces where individuals are exposed to repeated and prolonged high demands exceeding their resources. Whatever the cause, burnout will likely impact employee wellbeing at work and could even affect their personal lives.
What causes burnout?
Burnout is usually caused by an extended period of stressful circumstances that individuals may be struggling to manage. There are several potential causes of burnout in the workplace, including a lack of control over your circumstances, unclear expectations, conflicts with co-workers and high demands. When these are combined with a lack of support from employers, it can worsen the problem for individuals and businesses.
How to identify burnout in employees
With such a high prevalence of burnout across UK workplaces, it’s important for HR leaders and managers to know how to spot the symptoms and signs in employees. It’s worth noting that it might be more difficult to identify the symptoms in some individuals, but understanding some of the common emotional, physical and behavioural signs can help you begin supporting individuals who may be struggling.
Working longer hours
Spending more time working than usual, never seeming to switch off from work and taking fewer breaks can be common signs of burnout.
Lack of participation
Individuals may become withdrawn or quiet in social settings, along with being less likely to contribute to group discussions or meetings. This often stems from feelings of detachment, isolation and feeling alone in their thoughts and experiences.
Negative attitude
Those experiencing burnout might appear to have a negative outlook on their work, which may lead to irritability, short-temperedness, tardiness or absenteeism.
Making mistakes
Somebody might make more mistakes than usual in their work when they’re experiencing burnout. They may also be second-guessing their ability to carry out their usual tasks, leading to decreased output and productivity.
Difficulty concentrating and forgetfulness
Some individuals can find it increasingly difficult to concentrate on their work or remember deadlines, important information or processes. This might be due to having too much on their plate and feeling overwhelmed by high-priority tasks.
Health issues
Burnout can have a physical impact on some individuals, leading to increased tiredness, muscle pain, high blood pressure, headaches and more frequent illness due to lowered immunity. These signs are harder to spot, but it’s important to check in on those with a recent higher rate of absenteeism.
How to support your employees
Now that you have a better idea of how to identify individuals who may be struggling with burnout, we’re here to help provide support for employees and improve the working environment for all. Supporting employee wellbeing generally is crucial for many reasons, from reducing sick leave to improving productivity. From an employee perspective, it can also create a happier, healthier workplace atmosphere where individuals feel listened to and satisfied.
Employers, HR leaders and managers can access plenty of resources tailored to looking after employees, whether these are used to supplement training for management or passed directly to employees.
Download our free guide: a solution guide for employee burnout and overwhelm
Our free solution guide for employee burnout and overwhelm can help you evaluate the problems in your business and identify the potential causes. Using our insights, you can implement effective resolutions to minimise issues for employees by understanding and targeting the underlying causes.
How to prevent employee burnout
Avoiding employee burnout before it becomes a problem is the best option, and doing so requires earlier intervention, changes in your policies and a healthy workplace environment where employees feel safe and comfortable.
Implementing the following in your business can make a big difference:
- Wellbeing apps: Providing employees with access to apps focused on improving mental health literacy, such as the On Wellbeing app, empowers individuals with the tools and guidance to improve their mental health at their own pace.
- Set manageable workloads: Before delegating, leaders should ensure that individual and team workloads are reasonable and achievable to prevent overwhelm.
- Management wellbeing training: If leaders and managers understand what burnout looks like and its causes, they can make changes to help avoid it within their teams.
How to help an employee with burnout
Employee burnout won’t go away on its own, and left untreated, it can lead to other mental health and wellbeing complications. That’s why business leaders in any industry must have the tools and knowledge they need to adequately support employees.
Implementing Employee Assistance Programmes (EAPs) or dedicated wellbeing strategies and policies can help you offer support for employees in coping with personal problems and help prevent those issues from impacting their work. These are often used after a mental health problem has been identified in an individual.
Leaders should also have access to a document or database of mental health hotlines that can be signposted for employees if they reach out for help. This can include phone numbers, counselling information and links to online chat services.
Business leaders should also ensure that employees have dedicated 1:1 support available. This gives them a chance to voice any concerns they have about workplace stress and pressure, alongside offering personal support. Employees should feel that their emotions and opinions matter, since this can help alleviate burnout and overwhelm.
With these insights, business leaders can support employees dealing with burnout and even help avoid these issues.
Sources
- https://mentalhealth-uk.org/blog/burnout-report-2025-reveals-generational-divide-in-levels-of-stress-and-work-absence/
- https://www.iom3.org/resource/survey-highlights-construction-worker-burnout.html
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/mental-health-challenges-uk-manufacturing/
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/burnout/art-20046642
