It’s Not Just HR — Women Across All Industries Are Breaking

Let’s stop pretending burnout is a personal problem.

Across industries – healthcare, tech, education, finance – women are burning out at unprecedented rates. Not because they’re not resilient. But because the systems they’re working in are unsustainable.

As someone who coaches HR professionals and serves on the Board of Directors for Lean In, I see both the data and the deeply human stories. HR is absolutely in crisis, but it is not the only field where women are cracking under pressure. What’s happening is systemic, widespread, and deeply gendered.

It’s time we stop minimizing it – and start naming it.

Burnout Isn’t Just Stress. It’s Structural.

We’ve normalized exhaustion. Cynicism, brain fog, resentment, and disengagement are treated like personal shortcomings instead of warning signs.

But burnout isn’t a badge of honor. It’s a red flag.

In Lean In’s recent Burnout at Work discussion guide, women shared what it actually feels like to reach the breaking point.

• The invisible load
• The unpaid emotional labor
• The constant pressure to prove you belong – and deserve to be in the room.

For women of color, it’s often compounded by the daily toll of navigating bias, microaggressions, and cultural taxation.

One woman put it plainly:

“It’s very difficult for me to ask for help or support because I believe I have to have this big old chip on my shoulder to prove that I deserve this position, and it was leading up to a lot of burnout.”

Sound familiar?

This Isn’t About Time Management. It’s About Broken Systems.

Too many women are juggling a full-time job, caregiving, team morale, the parent/teacher committee, and the unspoken role of making everything “okay.”

When they finally assess their actual workload—as the Burnout at Work guide encourages—many are stunned by how much they’ve been silently carrying. Not because they’re inefficient, but because they’ve been conditioned to say yes, smooth things over, and hold it all together.

We need to stop asking women to “self-care” their way out of structural dysfunction.

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So, What Needs to Change?

Burnout won’t be solved with bubble baths or better calendars. It requires systemic change—of culture, expectations, leadership, and support.

Here’s where organizations must start:

• Acknowledge the reality. Burnout is happening. Denial only deepens the damage.
• Create safe spaces. Foster open dialogue around workload, well-being, and equity.
• Redesign roles and systems. Align responsibilities and resources with realistic human capacity.
• Invest in coaching. Help women reclaim agency, set boundaries, and lead on their own terms.

If You’re on the Edge, You’re Not Alone

If you’re reading this and thinking, “I can’t keep doing this,” please hear me.

Burnout doesn’t mean you’re broken. It means something needs to change.

In my work with HR professionals and women leaders, I help people overcome burnout, reconnect with their power, and build systems that support the life and leadership they actually want.

Because surviving isn’t the goal. Thriving is.

Want to explore tools and strategies to prevent burnout? Explore my library of free-hr-resources, created specifically for HR professionals and women navigating high-impact roles.