More than half of the U.S. workforce (55%) is experiencing burnout, according to new research from Eagle Hill Consulting. The findings show that burnout is a threat to organizational performance, undercutting efficiency, innovation, customer service, and retention. Many employees said their concerns go unaddressed by managers.

 These findings come as organizations head into the busy holiday season, a time when workloads often spike, customer expectations climb, and employee stress intensifies. For many employers, the end-of-year period magnifies the very pressures that fuel burnout, making the data even more urgent for leaders planning 2026 priorities.

 “This research is a wake-up call for employers,” said Melissa Jezior, Eagle Hill Consulting president and CEO. “Burnout isn’t an employee experience issue, it’s a performance, customer service, and retention issue. Leaders are wise to really dig in and understand the root causes of burnout specific to their organization. Implementing pragmatic strategies will enable employees to optimally perform their job functions, which ultimately drives organization-wide performance.”

Jezior noted that the holiday season is a particularly critical moment for employers. “For many employers, November and December are the most demanding months of the year,” she added. “If employees are already burned out before the busy season begins, leaders should expect even deeper performance challenges unless they intervene.”

The Eagle Hill Consulting Workforce Burnout Survey 2025 found that burnout’s effects are widespread:

• 72% said burnout diminishes their efficiency.
• 71% reported it hurts their overall job performance.
• 65% stated it weakens their ability to serve customers.
• 64% believed it reduces their ability to innovate.
• 56% said it impacts attendance.

 Burnout is also a major driver of turnover. Burnt-out employees are nearly three times more likely to say they plan to leave their employer in the coming year.

 Additionally, burnout disproportionately affects younger workers, with rates highest among Gen Z (66%), followed by millennials (58%), Gen X (53%), and baby boomers (37%). Burnout is also elevated among fully remote (61%) and hybrid (57%) employees.

Employees attribute burnout equally to the work itself (50%), including workload and work type, and the people aspect of work (50%), such as collaboration, relationships, and team dynamics.

Yet many employees struggle without support. Only 42% of burned-out workers have told their manager about their burnout. Among those who do speak up, 42% said their manager takes no action to help reduce their burnout.

A new study showed that a commercial spray that claims to make surfaces self-disinfecting had no antimicrobial effect shortly after application.

Self-disinfecting biocidal surfaces have been proposed as a solution to prevent infections caused by the transmission of microorganisms from frequently touched surfaces in hospitals and other settings, the researchers said. For example, surface-anchoring quaternary ammonium salt (SAQAS)-based biocides are purported to maintain their antimicrobial potency for up to 30 days and are available as spray-on formulations.

The researchers tested the 30-day potency claim of a commercially available spray-on SAQAS-based biocide (SAQAS-A) under real-world conditions in a microbiology laboratory where regular cleaning is routine. To do this, researchers determined the background microbial burden on high-traffic floor areas, routinely used bench areas, frequently touched handles, and glass surfaces for 30 days before and after applying SAQAS-A.

Researchers observed that for greater than 80% of bench samples, the number of viable bacteria recovered was below the highest acceptable level of 2.5 colony-forming units (CFU)/cm², with minimal reduction in CFU recovery observed after SAQAS-A treatment. On the other hand, the number of floor and glass samples in which the microbial burden exceeded 2.5 CFU/cm² was greater after biocide application (12.7% and 73%, respectively) than before (4.8% and 37%, respectively).

In turn, analysis of all data using two statistical models confirmed that the application of SAQAS-A had no antimicrobial effect either after five or 30 days of application. In conclusion, our results indicate that SAQAS-A was ineffective in preventing surface contamination over 30 days in a real-world scenario where routine cleaning occurs.