More than half of U.S. employees now report burnout, and the rate is highest among people who work fully remote. But the data is more complicated than “remote work burns people out.” In Gallup’s latest global study, remote workers report less daily stress than hybrid workers, and most remote workers say their stress fell after leaving the office. What they report more of is sadness, loneliness and a workday that never switches off.
Below are the latest remote work burnout statistics from 2025 and 2026 research, broken down by work arrangement, generation, gender, cause and cost, with a note on where the major surveys disagree. Team leads can also learn which remote team processes prevent burnout.
Key Remote Work Burnout Statistics (2026)
- 61% of fully remote U.S. employees report burnout, compared with 57% of hybrid workers and 55% of all workers. (Eagle Hill Consulting, 2025)
- 66% of Gen Z workers report burnout, the highest of any generation. Baby Boomers report 37%. (Eagle Hill Consulting, 2025)
- Burned-out employees are nearly 3x more likely to plan to leave their employer in the coming year. (Eagle Hill Consulting, 2025)
- 30% of exclusively remote employees felt sadness “a lot of the previous day,” the highest of any work arrangement. The on-site, remote-capable figure is 20%. (Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026)
- Only 33% of exclusively remote employees are thriving in life, compared with 45% of hybrid workers. (Gallup, 2026)
- Meetings that start after 8 p.m. are up 16% year over year, and 29% of active workers are back in their inbox by 10 p.m. (Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2025)
- 44% of remote and hybrid workers say they work longer hours at home than they did on-site. (CoworkingCafe, 2026)
- 36% of U.S. workers say their work-related stress has increased since last year, and “feeling burnt out” is the top reason workers disengage (28%). (Owl Labs, 2026)
Remote vs. Hybrid vs. On-Site Burnout
Eagle Hill Consulting’s Workforce Burnout Survey 2025, conducted by Ipsos in November 2025 with more than 1,400 U.S. employees, found that burnout is highest among people who never go into an office.
| Work arrangement | Share reporting burnout |
|---|---|
| Fully remote | 61% |
| Hybrid | 57% |
| All U.S. workers | 55% |
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report adds a different view. It surveyed 141,444 employed adults worldwide during 2025 and asked what they felt “a lot of the previous day.” Remote workers are the most engaged and less stressed than hybrid workers, but they are the most likely to report sadness and anger, and less likely to be thriving than hybrid or on-site workers.
| Measure | Exclusively remote | Hybrid | On-site (could work remotely) | On-site (cannot work remotely) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engaged at work | 30% | 25% | 24% | 17% |
| Thriving in life | 33% | 45% | 45% | 32% |
| Daily stress | 41% | 46% | 46% | 39% |
| Daily sadness | 30% | 24% | 20% | 22% |
| Daily anger | 25% | 23% | 22% | 22% |
| Daily loneliness | 24% | 24% | 18% | 21% |
Where the Research Disagrees
The surveys don’t agree on whether remote work causes more burnout. Eagle Hill finds the highest burnout among fully remote staff. Gallup finds remote workers have lower daily stress than hybrid workers or on-site workers who could work remotely. In CoworkingCafe’s 2026 survey of 1,140 remote and hybrid workers, 70% said their stress went down after they stopped working in the office full time, and only 14% said it went up.
The most consistent pattern across all three: remote work tends to reduce stress from commuting and office pressure, but raises the risk of isolation, sadness and longer hours. Burnout in remote teams is less about the workload on any one day and more about a workday with no clear end. It also doesn’t mean remote staff get less done. See our working from home productivity statistics.
Burnout by Generation
| Generation | All U.S. workers reporting burnout (Eagle Hill, 2025) | Remote and hybrid workers with burnout symptoms in the past year (CoworkingCafe, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Gen Z | 66% | 38% |
| Millennials | 58% | 37% |
| Gen X | 53% | 27% |
| Baby Boomers | 37% | Not surveyed |
Younger remote workers also feel more isolated. In CoworkingCafe’s survey, 20% of Gen Z remote workers felt lonely once or twice a week or more, double the rate of Millennials. Nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z workers said they can’t detach at the end of the day, and only 36% said they rarely or never feel pressure to be always available.
Burnout and Stress by Gender
Women report more daily stress than men: 43% compared with 39% worldwide, according to Gallup’s 2026 report. Women working remotely often carry a larger share of caregiving and household work alongside their jobs, which makes the blurring of home and work harder to manage. Remote work also helps many of them, though. In CoworkingCafe’s survey, more than three quarters of women said they felt less stressed working remotely, compared with roughly two thirds of men.
The “Infinite Workday”: After-Hours Work Statistics
Microsoft analyzed anonymized Microsoft 365 activity through February 2025 and surveyed 31,000 knowledge workers in 31 countries. The data shows the workday stretching into evenings and weekends, which is where remote burnout usually starts.
| Signal | Figure |
|---|---|
| Workers online at 6 a.m. who are reviewing email | 40% |
| How often workers are interrupted by a meeting, email or chat (heaviest 20% of users) | Every 2 minutes |
| Meetings starting after 8 p.m., year over year | +16% |
| Active workers back in their inbox by 10 p.m. | 29% |
| Messages the average employee sends or receives outside core hours | 50+ |
| Employees who say their work feels chaotic and fragmented | 48% |
| Employees who say the pace of work makes it impossible to keep up | 1 in 3 |
Microsoft notes that the same late hours feel different depending on the arrangement. Its research found remote workers often treat evenings as quiet catch-up time, while hybrid workers are more likely to experience them as stress. Weekends aren’t protected either: Owl Labs found 74% of U.S. workers do some work on Sundays.
Why Remote Workers Struggle to Switch Off
Without a commute or an office door, many people who work remotely find it hard to separate home life from work, which makes it hard to reduce remote work burnout.
Many also have kids and partners at home during working hours, which can cause interruptions, delays, work overload and more stress. Household distractions are the top barrier to focus for remote workers, cited by 49% in CoworkingCafe’s survey. Over time, work life and home life become intertwined, which leads to remote employee burnout.
What Causes Remote Work Burnout?
| Cause | Share citing it | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Heavier workloads from understaffed teams | 38% | Robert Half |
| Feeling stuck in their career | 26% | Robert Half |
| Lower team morale after restructuring or layoffs | 25% | Robert Half |
| The work itself (workload, type of work) | 50% | Eagle Hill |
| The people side (collaboration, relationships, team dynamics) | 50% | Eagle Hill |
| Household distractions while working from home | 49% | CoworkingCafe |
| Meeting fatigue | 38% | Owl Labs |
Time off isn’t fixing it. Robert Half found 54% of workers didn’t use all their time off last year. Of those, 32% worried their work would pile up while they were away.
Other common causes of burnout include unclear job expectations, dysfunctional workplace dynamics, a lack of social support, a lack of control and poor workplace communication.
What Burnout Costs Employers
| Burned-out employees who say burnout… | Share |
|---|---|
| Reduces their efficiency | 72% |
| Hurts their overall job performance | 71% |
| Weakens their ability to serve customers | 65% |
| Reduces their ability to innovate | 64% |
| Affects their attendance | 56% |
Most of it goes unreported. Only 42% of burned-out workers have told their manager. Of those who did, 42% say their manager did nothing to help. (Eagle Hill Consulting, 2025)
Taking away remote work carries its own retention risk. In CoworkingCafe’s survey, 61% of remote and hybrid workers said they’d consider changing jobs if they were ordered back to the office full time. Gallup reports that six in 10 exclusively remote employees are extremely likely to look for a new job if remote flexibility is taken away.
Workplace Stress Is Still Above Pre-Pandemic Levels
| Year | Employees worldwide reporting a lot of daily stress |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 31% |
| 2015 | 39% |
| 2019 | 38% |
| 2020 | 43% |
| 2021 | 44% |
| 2022 | 44% |
| 2023 | 41% |
| 2024 | 40% |
| 2025 | 40% |
For context on who is affected: among U.S. employees whose jobs can be done remotely, 52% work hybrid, 26% work exclusively remote and 22% work fully on-site, according to Gallup’s hybrid work indicator. Six in 10 would prefer hybrid.
Earlier Research on Work Burnout
Employee burnout was a concern long before remote work went mainstream. In a survey of 1,000 respondents by Deloitte, 77% said they had experienced burnout at their current job, and 91% said unmanageable stress or frustration hurts the quality of their work. Nearly 70% felt their employers weren’t doing enough to prevent or reduce burnout, and many felt there was not enough recognition or support from leadership.
Researchers at Stanford and Harvard studying workplace stress estimated that stressors such as long hours and high demands contribute to close to 120,000 deaths a year in the U.S. and nearly $190 billion in health care costs, about 5% to 8% of national health care spending.
During the pandemic, a survey of 1,500 respondents by FlexJobs and Mental Health America found 75% had experienced burnout at work and 76% agreed that workplace stress affects their mental health. Leadership at all companies should take notice.
How to Recognize Work-From-Home Burnout
Burnout doesn’t always have a quick recovery time, so it’s important to know what signs to look out for. Signs of burnout include:
- Unable to complete tasks on time
- Losing track of tasks and time
- Mood swings, anger, sadness or irritability
- Not getting proper sleep or experiencing insomnia
- Drinking more alcohol than normal or using it as a coping mechanism
- Physical symptoms such as headaches, illness or dizziness
- Feeling lonely or cut off from coworkers
- Experiencing depression
Burnout Prevention for Remote Workers
Employees may feel overwhelmed by their work and forget to take time off or disconnect from their computer at the end of the day. Without these breaks, they risk sliding into burnout.
Experts recommend small steps like creating boundaries for yourself (such as set times for checking email) and keeping healthy habits outside of work (like eating well and getting regular exercise).
Turn off work notifications and email after hours. Focus on work during working hours and tune out outside distractions.
What Can Companies Do to Reduce Remote Work Burnout?
The answer may lie in changes within individual organizations and updating HR structures to reflect current workforce needs. Set clear expectations for when people are and aren’t expected to respond, and keep meetings out of early mornings and evenings where possible.
Consider offering alternative benefits packages, and have an effective learning management system in place.
A survey by FlexJobs found that 56% of respondents believe the best way to support them is to allow more flexibility during their workday. Offering mental health days and encouraging workers to take time off came in at 43%, and 28% said better health insurance and more paid time off were the best ways to support them.
Remote Work Burnout FAQ
What percentage of remote workers experience burnout?
About 61% of fully remote U.S. employees report burnout, according to Eagle Hill Consulting’s 2025 survey. That compares with 57% of hybrid workers and 55% of all workers.
Are remote workers more burned out than office workers?
It depends on what you measure. Remote workers report higher burnout in Eagle Hill’s survey and more daily sadness in Gallup’s data, but they report less daily stress than hybrid or on-site workers whose jobs could be done remotely.
Which generation has the most remote work burnout?
Gen Z. Eagle Hill puts Gen Z burnout at 66%, and CoworkingCafe found Gen Z remote workers were the most likely to report burnout symptoms (38%) and frequent loneliness.
Is hybrid work better for burnout than fully remote?
On most measures, yes. Hybrid workers report lower burnout than fully remote workers (57% vs. 61%) and are far more likely to be thriving (45% vs. 33%). However, Gallup found hybrid workers report more daily stress (46% vs. 41%).
Final Thoughts
Remote work burnout will be with workers and employers for some time, and the latest data shows it is less about where people work than about workloads, isolation and a workday with no clear end.
Employers are fighting to keep their employees happy and healthy, but it’s hard when they’re on the other side of a computer screen. By working together and keeping the lines of communication open, many of these issues can be reduced or solved.
Having difficulty finding engineering talent? Reach out to the engineering recruitment Houston agency Apollo Technical.
About This Data
We only use statistics from studies that publish their sample size and dates, and we link to the original research rather than to articles that repeat it. Surveys measure burnout in different ways, so figures from different studies shouldn’t be compared directly. Last reviewed September 2026.
