Workplace Stress Is Real — So Why Don’t We Talk About It?

The effects of workplace stress on mental and physical health have been widely discussed in recent years — especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite this growing awareness, talking about stress at work remains a taboo.

Why is it still so difficult to speak openly about stress? And what can we do to break the silence?

Stress Happens to Everyone — So Why Is No One Talking About It?

Stress can happen in any job, at any level. During intense projects, employees may work late into the night or over weekends. Occasionally, this is manageable. But when long hours and high demands become the norm, they lead to chronic stress, overwork, and eventually burnout.

What’s worse is that employees are often expected to keep quiet about it. When someone finally brings up their stress, they’re likely to hear:
“We’re all stressed — just get the job done.”

This kind of dismissal normalizes unsustainable work habits and discourages open communication. For many professionals, 10- to 12-hour days and weekend availability have become standard. Stress becomes part of the job description — and complaining is off-limits.

Even quitting isn’t always a solution. It might be seen as a weakness. Talking about stress with a future employer? Risky. That fear only compounds the pressure — and adds to the already heavy load of workplace stress.

Time Off Doesn’t Always Help When Stress Is Structural

Even if you're lucky enough to get some recovery time, the prospect of returning to the same toxic environment can trigger anticipatory stress — the kind that starts before the stressor even occurs. A break won’t fix the root issue if the stress is baked into the job.

The Dangerous Misconception: “Stress Is for the Weak”

Surveys consistently show that employees want to speak up. In the UK, 90% of workers say they’d like to talk to their manager about stress. But very few do.

Why? Fear of negative judgment.

People worry about being seen as:

• Weak
• Unreliable
• Not up to the task

This fear is based on a damaging misconception: that only those who lack resilience experience stress. In reality, anyone can experience workplace stress — from senior managers to new hires. Stress is not a sign of weakness, but a response to a mismatch between demands and resources.

Factors that influence stress include:

• Type of work
• Degree of control
• Workload and support
• Personality and environment

Higher-ranking employees often experience less stress simply because they have more control. But no one is immune.

Stress Is Treated Like an Individual Problem — But It’s Often Systemic

Another reason people stay silent is social pressure. Stress is often seen as a personal issue that affects productivity, increases sick leave, and reduces profits — all things companies (and economies) don’t want to hear about.

This leads to a dangerous narrative:
Stressed employees are a burden.

It’s a narrative that aligns with individualistic, profit-driven thinking — and ignores the fact that stress is a collective issue, created by systems, structures, and workplace culture.

How Employees Handle Stress in Silence

In many workplaces, employees avoid discussing stress directly. Instead, they call in sick and blame external circumstances — a sick child, an aging parent — rather than admit they’re burned out.

In a European survey of 10,585 employees (including 1,410 in France), 72% of French workers felt their employer had little or no interest in their psychological well-being. Only 20% would talk to their manager. Just 11% would approach HR.

On the flip side, some organizations genuinely want to support their employees — but don’t know how to start the conversation. The gap between perception and intention creates a missed opportunity for real change.

Why Managers and Employees Should Align on Stress

Managers and employees often forget that they’re working toward the same goal:

• Profitability
• Performance
• Sustainability

And those goals are threatened when stress goes unchecked. Stressed employees perform worse — so ignoring the problem isn’t just unethical, it’s bad for business.

A company that encourages open dialogue about stress creates a culture of trust, better performance, and lower turnover.

How to Talk About Stress Without Fear

To normalize communication about stress, both employees and managers need tools and structure. Here’s a practical approach:

1. Identify the stressor

Don’t just say “I’m stressed.” Be specific. Is the workload too high? Are expectations unclear? Is the environment noisy or toxic?

2. Describe the effect

Explain how it impacts you — your concentration, health, mood, or output. This makes the problem concrete, not emotional.

3. Link it to company interests

Frame your concern as a shared problem. For example:

“My workload is heavier than my colleagues’, and I’m worried it’s affecting team balance and delivery timelines.”

This shows that solving your stress benefits both you and the company.

It Starts With Leadership

Managers play a key role in breaking the taboo. When leaders speak openly about stress and mental health, it becomes easier for others to follow.

Simple actions can help:

• Talking about mental health in meetings
• Implementing stress check-ins or surveys
• Offering real support — not just lip service

When these behaviors come from the top, a culture of openness can take root.

It’s Time to End the Silence Around Workplace Stress

Workplace stress is real, common, and harmful. But it’s also preventable and manageable — if we talk about it. And if you want to talk about it, but don't know how, you can read our article on how to speak about stressful behavior or the one about how to talk with a stressed colleague for ideas. We also go over this in our course "Surmounting Stress".

Creating an environment where employees feel safe to speak up is a shared responsibility. It’s time to stop seeing stress as a personal flaw and start treating it as the organizational challenge it really is.