More Than Frazzled

Just because you take breaks doesn’t mean you’re broken.

Curtis Tyrone Jones

A September 2025 survey published by Lattice found that 48 percent of U.S. HR professionals surveyed reported they considered leaving the profession in the previous 12 months. Globally, the percentage comes in at 41 percent. Should this type of exodus occur, businesses, both domestically and globally, will find themselves struggling to ensure employee engagement, facing challenges with competitive compensation programs, confronting potential employee and labor relations issues, grappling with employee development, and encountering a plethora of other HR related matters.

A variety of factors have been identified as contributing to the levels of dissatisfaction resulting in these numbers. Common themes include the emotional toll of managing employees’ concerns and issues, feeling unseen and unheard by senior management, limiting their ability to impact the organization positively, a lack of work-life balance (let’s face it, HR is a 24/7 profession), and the constant pace of change that began during the COVID-19 pandemic has continued through seemingly endless changes to both state and federal compliance requirements … not to mention challenges associated with staffing and turnover.

It is exhausting and has resulted in HR professionals operating in a state of chronic stress for years. According to the Mayo Clinic, the effects of constant stress on the body and mind cannot be discounted. Long-term activation of the body’s stress response and its resulting exposure to cortisol and other stress hormones have the potential to impact almost all the body’s processes. Of course, an individual’s reaction to stress plays a role in the body’s response, but common risks include a greater incidence of anxiety, depression, digestive problems, headaches, heart disease, heart attack, hypertension, stroke, sleep problems, and issues with memory and focus.

Efforts to counteract the desire to exit HR need to be addressed on both the individual and organizational levels. HR practitioners must learn to recognize their personal stressors and indicators of burnout. They must become advocates for themselves, take the needed steps to address the contributing factors, and practice self-care. Self-care might include eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly, engaging in relaxation exercises such as yoga, taking ample time for activities outside of work, remaining engaged with family and friends, and, if necessary, seeking professional counseling. Employers must support their HR professional’s role in being the voice of not only the company, but also the employee. They must recognize the unique perspective and skill set HR brings to operations through related risk management strategies, employee development and training, business intelligence, and best practices. Budgets should be developed to reflect these initiatives. HR professionals must be provided with uninterrupted time away from the business to decompress and renew.

The good news from the Lattice report is that many companies have recognized these needs and taken supportive action for their HR professionals. This resulted in only 16 percent (of the 48 percent) actually leaving the profession behind.

Have you asked your HR person/team how they are doing?