Workplace operations have fundamentally altered with advances in technology. A role might be hybrid, remote, or fully in-person, and teams could be spread across oceans but, for the first time at work, our performance is hyper-optimized. Employees are tracked, analyzed, and benchmarked more than ever before, with productivity metrics influencing everything from promotions to job security.

Today’s workplace is also more mixed. Up to six generations work side by side as people live and work for longer. And it’s not just age that offers diversity; today’s workforce brings a wider range of perspectives and experiences to the table. Which is great for innovation, as research consistently shows that diverse teams outperform homogenous ones.

Lastly, newer generations are the largest workforce cohorts yet. Millennials surpassed Gen X as the dominant US labor force, and within five years, Gen Z will account for 30% of US personnel. Meanwhile, boomers and Gen X live with contrasting comforts to their successes: they’re more likely to hold leadership positions, have a home they own, and enjoy deeper pockets of disposable spending.

So it’s unsurprising that our State of Workplace Learning Report showed younger generations are facing significantly higher rates of burnout compared to older colleagues. The numbers speak for themselves: 81% of 18-24 year olds report burnout compared to just 49% of those aged 55 and older.

Christina Maslach has led seminal research on burnout, finding it happens when employees’ expectations clash with the realities of their work environments. Her work identifies six driving factors: high workloads, a lack of control, insufficient reward, and breakdowns in community, fairness, and shared values.

Workloads are often overwhelming, which is something we can learn to manage. Training employees in time management, prioritization, and delegation gives employees strategies to break tasks down, set realistic goals, and collaborate effectively, reducing the strain of excessive demands.

Related: Burnout costs employers $21,000 per employee, study finds

If a lack of autonomy at work leads to emotional burnout, let’s pass control and help people build confidence alongside competencies. Granting personal agency through flexible, self-directed learning drives improvement at work and shows employees clear pathways towards growth.

Rewarding an employee isn’t the same as recognizing their work. Certifying or rewarding training completion is transactional, but true recognition fulfills psychological needs that reinforce competence, motivation, and engagement. Maslach links a lack of recognition to burnout, highlighting the importance of making employees feel genuinely valued for their contributions. If workplace development incorporates social learning, transparent peer progress, and celebrates achievements, leaders will build a culture where recognition is meaningful and lasting.

How can we deepen community, connections, and resilience at work? Maslach highlights that a lack of social support, unresolved conflicts, and isolation need tempering with inclusive measures. If we include peer mentoring, coaching programs, and collaborative learning into training and development programs, we’ll enrich belonging and strengthen workplace relationships, to build a more connected, adaptable workforce.

When discussing fairness, focus falls on perceived equity in treatment, decision-making, and resource distribution. While standardized training and career development programs improve accessibility, for learning to be truly valuable, it should be personalized, with high value learning experiences available to all levels of the organization. Tailoring learning to individual needs ensures relevance, supports growth, and makes training equitable and impactful.

If value misalignment is a major contributor to burnout, it means employees disengage when their personal beliefs conflict with organizational priorities. Businesses can share values—a company’s mission, ethics, and culture, and connect employees to a purpose. Going a step further by adding wellbeing and mental health support to personal development programs, helps employees feel more valued and supported as individuals.

Ultimately, today’s workforce needs more than just skills training—it needs a work culture that acknowledges human challenges so it can actively address burnout. The most successful companies will need to balance optimizing productivity with a clear focus on engagement, by developing their people along the way.

Scott Anderberg, CEO, Moodle