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With ongoing economic uncertainty and job security concerns, it’s no surprise that employee wellbeing has taken a hit in recent months. As well as this, regularly working outside of hours has become the norm which could be the culprit of high levels of stress, burnout and employee turnover.
According to new research released by Hays, based on a survey of over 3,600 respondents across the UK, the vast majority (91%) of employees across a range of different seniorities work outside of their contracted hours to some degree, with close to six in ten (57%) saying they do so often.
Four in ten (40%) workers admit they don’t find it easy to switch off from their professional responsibilities after work. On top of this, nearly a third (31%) of employees don’t feel able to disconnect from work whilst on annual leave.
A third (33%) of employers believe the overall wellbeing of their workforce has declined in the last 12 months. When it comes to what’s driving this dip, two thirds (66%) of employers acknowledge that high workload is the most common cause of negative employee wellbeing in their organisation.
According to the research, over half (54%) of employees often feel stressed at work. 43% of employers believe their staff have become more stressed in the last 12 months – with one in five (20%) employees under the age of 29 even took time of work last year due to stress or a stress-related illness.
Four in ten (39%) professionals have left a job because their employer did not adequately support their wellbeing – more women (42%) than men (35%) have quit based on a lack of wellbeing support.
Hannah Pearsall, Head of Wellbeing at Hays, comments: “As our research shows, the work-life balance scales are tipping in a concerning direction, with noticeable implications on employee wellbeing.
Not being able to fit your workload into your contracted hours and regularly working overtime as a result is a recipe for burnout, and the cost of poor employee wellbeing cannot be ignored.
Employers need to be proactive about building a healthy workplace culture, by regularly reviewing workloads, encouraging time off to disconnect, leading by example when it comes to setting boundaries and providing effective mental health support to prevent stress levels from spiralling.
At the end of the day, prioritising employee wellbeing isn’t just the right thing to do by your team, it’s crucial for all aspects of a business including performance, productivity, employee morale and talent attraction and retention.”
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About the research:
The survey on which these findings are based was carried out between 24th April and 12th May 2025 and received over 3,600 responses. The survey was completed by employers and employees from across the UK, working across a range of industry sectors and employed in various types and sizes of organisation in both the private and public sectors.
Contact
Contact information for any media enquiries relating to Hays UK and Ireland: PR team number: 020 3040 0282 PR team email: public.relations@hays.com
About Hays
Hays plc (the "Group") is the world’s leading specialist in workforce solutions and recruitment, such as RPO and MSP. The Group is the expert at recruiting qualified, professional, and skilled people worldwide, being the market leader in the UK, Germany, and Australia and one of the market leaders in Continental Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The Group operates across the private and public sectors, dealing in permanent positions, contract roles and temporary assignments. As of 30 June 2024, the Group employed over 11,100 staff operating from 236 offices in 33 countries. For the year ended 30 June 2024:
