---
id: "claim-mindset-decline"
type: "claim"
source_timestamps: ["§ Why People Create Workslop"]
tags: ["statistics", "burnout", "macro-trends"]
related: ["concept-workslop", "entity-betterup-labs", "entity-edelman", "lit-trust-resilience"]
speakers: ["Kate Niederhoffer", "Alexi Robichaux", "Jeffrey T. Hancock"]
confidence: "high"
testable: true
sources: ["adoption"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-adoption"
originDay: 9
articleStem: "hbr-edu-38-ai-workslop"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/01/why-people-create-ai-workslop-and-how-to-stop-it"
sourceTitle: "Why People Create AI “Workslop”—and How to Stop It"
---
# Foundational leadership mindsets have declined 2–6% since 2020

Drawing on [[entity-betterup-labs|BetterUp]]'s dataset of **over 400,000 employees**, the authors note a **2–6% decline since 2020** in foundational mindsets necessary for leadership and performance — such as focus, agility, and strategic planning. This is coupled with a **3-point decline** in employee trust in employers (via [[entity-edelman]]'s 2025 Global Trust Barometer). This psychological depletion — caused by post-pandemic stress, economic uncertainty, and burnout — creates the exact conditions in which [[concept-workslop-d38]] thrives.

- **Confidence:** high · **Testable:** yes

**Enrichment.** Declining trust and leadership mindsets since 2020 are directionally supported by independent post-pandemic burnout research ([[lit-trust-resilience]]); the precise 2–6% figure lives in the authors' broader research body rather than in the public workslop summaries.