Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X & Boomers All Deal With Burnout Very Differently
wavebreakmedia / Shutterstock Burnout gets a lot of attention these days, especially in the workplace, but it definitely wasn’t always this way.
About half of employees admitted to feeling burned out in the last year in a 2024 survey. The interesting thing is that each of those employees probably has a completely different way of dealing with that based on which generation they belong to.
Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, and baby boomers deal with burnout in completely different ways.
Burnout has always existed, but the conversation about it has changed a lot across generations. Talking about feeling burned out seems totally normal now, but there was a time when people didn’t even use that term. Older generations have always been more hesitant to say they’re struggling than younger generations are, even when it’s obvious.
Boomers have a high chance of getting burned out, but they don’t talk about it.
Burnout has never really been a thing for baby boomers. They certainly feel it, but they don’t acknowledge it unless it becomes so severe that they don't have a choice. It all stems from their beliefs about work and mental health.
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Boomers have a work ethic that’s so strong that many could easily be described as workaholics. This makes them feel obsessive about their jobs, which makes them even more prone to burnout. Unfortunately, there was an intense stigma about discussing mental health when they were in their prime, so they never addressed it.
This lifestyle has taken its toll. Boomers are being diagnosed with depression pretty frequently, and experts blame that on the stress they put themselves through. They’ve been successful, but it’s come at the price of making them feel like they had to ignore serious problems.
Gen X has a complicated relationship with burnout that’s hard for people of other generations to understand.
After boomers gave everything they had to their jobs, Gen X decided to go in a slightly different direction. They still worked very hard, but they wanted more balance between their careers and their personal lives.
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Talking about mental health was still unacceptable for Gen X, though, so they were stuck in a strange spot. They weren’t quite as susceptible to burnout as boomers since they prioritized work-life balance, but when they did deal with it, they weren’t really equipped to handle it.
Now, Gen X is under a lot of pressure. They’re still working while their elderly parents and kids depend on them for support. Gen X women in particular are struggling with their mental health more now than ever before, and they’re having to find new ways to deal with their second wave of burnout.
Millennials completely redefined mental health standards in the workplace.
Millennials watched the generations that came before them basically suffer in silence, and they wanted something better for themselves. They built on the advancements Gen X made with work-life balance while also getting serious about mental health.
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This still hasn’t created the perfect conditions needed for millennials to avoid burnout, though. As the first generation to grow up with social media, they faced added pressure others didn’t have. Millennials have also been judged unfairly by older colleagues who see their desire to have a life outside of work as a sign that they aren’t hard workers.
This generation still gets burned out, but they’ve set themselves up to be able to handle it better. They aren’t going to push through the stress without doing anything about it, even if some people think they’re being too soft.
Gen Z is addressing burnout more directly and being misunderstood in the process.
A big chunk of Gen Z is in the workforce now, and they’ve had to get used to criticism pretty quickly. Older generations frequently call out Gen Z for not working hard. They’ve pushed back by saying the milestones people expect them to meet aren’t realistic anymore.
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Gen Z is trying to make ends meet but still struggling, and it’s coming at a cost. They’ve reported high levels of mental health issues, including burnout. Their co-workers point to this as further proof that they’re less resilient, even though that means they’re ignoring the different circumstances they have to deal with.
Since Gen Z talks about burnout more than any other generation, more of them claim to suffer from it. That’s just coming from increased awareness instead of something they’re doing on purpose. They also try to avoid reaching that point in the first place, which is a sign of healthy boundaries and not a lack of motivation.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
