5 ways work affected mental health in 2025

Nearly all corporate workers face mental health challenges at work. And in 2025, unprecedented, lightning-fast developments in AI, unending widespread layoffs and broader political turmoil roiled workers’ emotional well-being. 

Many workers have been left burned out, anxious, and filled with dread. But it’s not all bad—in some corners of the workforce, each seismic disruption this year brought with it discourse around the problem, as well as some leaders and workers staying committed to safeguarding mental health in the face of constant change.

Here are five ways workplace trends affected our mental health this year.

Layoff dread and fatigue

Perhaps the dominant headline in 2025 when it comes to the workforce was the story of layoffs. As we close out the year, over 1.1 million Americans have lost their jobs, though the actual number could be even much higher. The government and tech sectors were especially hit hard—particularly by cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and redundancies that (may or may not) be due to AI, respectively. But major industries across the board have been affected, as 2025 tallied the most layoffs since the pandemic in 2020.

These seemingly unending, so-called “forever layoffs” have wrecked workers’ mental health: losing work is one of the most traumatic experiences someone can experience, and can even lead to physical illness. More than a third of leaders say they feel mentally unprepared to deal with leadership responsibilities in this environment. Plus, living amid constant uncertainty is bad for efficiency (and a company’s bottom line) as it struggles to survive. In 2026, firms need to handle layoffs compassionately, leaders need to keep team morale up, and higher-ups need to ensure their workplaces are ones conducive to good mental health.

Riding the AI wave

In 2025, AI moved at breakneck speed from a vague abstraction to the typical worker to something very real, being used every day in 88% of businesses, according to McKinsey, fundamentally changing the way business is done. Workers have reported feeling overwhelmed and as though they’re already behind: a LinkedIn survey found that 40% of workers feel like they can’t keep up with the pace of AI development, and public opinion polls uncover a quite negative, worrisome view of AI.

But it’s not all bad. The meteoric rise of the game-changing technology has also seen a rise in curiosity in workers, as well as a willingness to learn and to adapt. AI has also started playing a prominent role in mental health support for many: a third of Gen Z says they’ve confided in chatbots over humans, leading to growing concern among some commentators and experts. 

Emotional intelligence matters. A lot. 

But despite the rise of the proverbial robot overlord, a lot of workplace discussion in 2025 revolved around the importance of emotional intelligence. With so much economic and political upheaval around the world, workers bring that anxiety and distress into their professional lives, necessitating the importance of emotional intelligence (among leaders especially) in the workplace: it helps us manage triggers, sustain relationships, and develop coping strategies.

Luckily, there are many ways to improve emotional intelligence: learning how to embrace and regulate your emotions, staying present and prioritizing experiences over things, and discovering ways to tap into your empathy and self-awareness. It’ll improve your mental health (and the mental health of those around you, too).

Workplaces remain toxic

Despite increased interest in emotional intelligence, companies continue to lay people off en masse over Zoom or email, work-life balance at many places is worse than ever (with some firms pushing for 72-hour weeks), and narcissism that’s baked into company structure runs rampant. Not to mention DEI safeguards continue to be stripped and tougher immigration policies in the US have led to more brain drain for companies and abrupt uncertainty for foreign workers’ lives and livelihoods. Eighty percent of workers said their workplace was toxic this year—an increase from 64% in 2024, according to Monster.

While many of these issues are systemic and macro, intertwined with broader political and economic forces, there are still things individual workers can try to do to remain emotionally and mentally safer in toxic workplaces in 2026 to address at least some of these problems. Psychologists say folks can get better at spotting a toxic person from a mile away, for example, and figuring out how to best engage HR if need be. But the onus is on leaders to set the tone and enact meaningful change—especially as forces like AI just keep disrupting work culture more and more.

Workers prioritizing their well-being above all

But despite all the challenges, mental health awareness at work continues to rise, and progress has been made in some areas. New data shows that, while not perfect or always effective, most employers offer mental health care and benefits like therapy to their workers. A push for more neurodiversity-friendly workplaces has also gotten stronger and more visible, and inclusivity-minded leaders remain more committed to DEI than ever.

Plus, more workers seem to prioritize their mental health over the rat race. More are rejecting rise-and-grind culture; Gen Z is especially turning to solopreneurship and side gigs over inflexible full-time work and opting out of the climb toward fancy titles. New data also showed that more workers are willing to quit if their bosses don’t allow hybrid or remote work. In the end, prioritizing mindfulness and staying in the present, as well as relishing simple joys, remains a proven way to stay emotionally solid . . . especially when the world around you feels anything but.

source https://www.fastcompany.com/91464807/5-ways-work-affected-mental-health-in-2025