---
id: "claim-burnout-drivers"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ Insider Insights: There's Too Much Work", "¶ 2-4"]
tags: ["employee-engagement", "burnout-metrics"]
related: ["concept-change-induced-burnout", "quote-urgent-priorities"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
speakers: ["HBR Insider Insights Survey Respondent"]
sources: ["tail1"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-tail1"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-tail-104-treat-ai-like-teammate"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/05/should-you-treat-ai-like-a-teammate"
sourceTitle: "Should You Treat AI Like a Teammate?"
---
# Work Volume and Change Drive Burnout

## Claim
According to a survey of **152 HBR readers**, **68%** report employees struggling with work volume, **53%** with burnout, and **52%** with career trajectories. Qualitative data indicates this is severely exacerbated by frequent, poorly communicated changes in management direction.

## Confidence: high · Testable: yes
Anchors [[concept-change-induced-burnout]]; the qualitative texture appears in [[quote-urgent-priorities]].

## Verification status (from enrichment)
The specific 68/53/52 percentages are HBR-internal survey data (not independently indexed), so treat those exact numbers as source-internal. The broader pattern is strongly supported by external research: WHO/APA and organizational-psychology literature identify high workload plus lack of control and unstable, conflicting priorities as key burnout drivers, and describe **'change fatigue' / 'initiative overload'** as a well-documented amplifier.