How to alleviate the risk of burnout in the finance industry
Employees working in the finance industry are at the greatest risk of burnout, ranking above healthcare and education workers. This blog will reveal the causes of burnout in finance professionals, the signs of burnout in financial services, and provide actionable insights on how to prevent burnout in finance teams.
In a hurry? Here are our top three takeaways from our blog on how to alleviate burnout in the finance industry.
1. Burnout in finance is structural, not an individual failing: Burnout across financial services is primarily driven by how work is designed, not by a lack of resilience or commitment from employees. If you only address burnout through wellbeing programmes or individual coping strategies, it will persist. Sustainable change requires workload, role, and cultural redesign.
2. High accountability and low margin for error is the biggest burnout risk: Many finance roles combine personal accountability, regulatory scrutiny, and zero tolerance for mistakes, often under time pressure and fatigue. Treat burnout as an operational and risk issue, not just an HR concern, especially in regulated and decision-critical roles.
3.Leaders play a disproportionate role in preventing burnout: The strongest predictor of burnout in finance teams is not workload alone, but how leaders set expectations, model behaviour, and manage pressure. Preventing burnout requires leadership capability and accountability, not just policy changes. Line managers are the frontline of burnout prevention.
Got time to stick around? Let's dive a little deeper.
Burnout in the finance industry
Brits working in the finance industry are at the highest risk of burnout, scoring 87 out of 100 on the Burnout Risk Index (Workplace Wellbeing Professional). This score translates to 13 million people at risk of habitual burnout and exhaustion.
In this blog, we’ll pull apart all the elements, revealing why burnout is a growing issue in financial services and the human and business costs of burnout, creating a comprehensive guide for HR professionals, business leaders, and finance professionals to recognise and reduce finance industry burnout.
What is burnout in the finance industry?
Employees in the finance industry aren’t innately less resilient than those in other sectors. The fact that financial services burnout is so rife suggests that there are institutionally ingrained problems – ways of working over many years that are now taking a toll on the people who power this industry.
We can't reduce burnout risk in finance by focusing solely on people, such as through wellbeing programmes. Every day management practices must evolve. It's time for employers to review their working policies, ensuring they're designed to fit with employees' lives and personal demands.
As Pluxee UK CEO, Jonathan Attia says in his article published by Business Age,
Life milestones, such as buying a home, starting a family, or caring for elderly relatives, can significantly impact financial wellbeing, emotional stability, and even career choices. Supporting employees through these transitions is essential for retaining talent, sustaining workforce resilience, and fostering a genuine culture of care.
Defining finance workplace burnout
In our guide to recognising and resolving burnout, we reveal the five stages an employee goes through before reaching burnout.
Burnout, like stress, often gets overused, diluting its impact. Burnout isn’t just being extremely tired. It’s a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion that’s incredibly debilitating.
In our blog, ‘Reaching and recovering from burnout: Breaking the stigma’, As Dr Keith Grimes shares his personal experiences with burnout – how he got there and his journey back to health.
I often say to my patients that recovering from stress and burnout takes almost as long as it took to get there.
For more personal stories about burnout and how it presents at work, including cynicism, lack of empathy, and forgetfulness, listen to our podcast below.
How burnout manifests in financial services
The two stories we reference above come from employees who were working in the health and policing sectors at the time of becoming burnt out. Next, we’ll explore how burnout manifests in the financial services industry.
Long hours and sustained pressure
It’s not uncommon for employees working in the investment and capital markets sector to work 60-to 80-hour weeks. If getting a live deal over the line, that could increase up to 100 hours.
It’s draining, stressful and unsustainable. Without time to recover from these stints, employees’ wellbeing will dip, lowering their resilience and resistance to stress and burnout.
High accountability and low margin for error
Accountability varies by operating level, but when you’re dealing with money, the margin for error is always small. Frontline traders, analysts, and auditors are personally responsible for accurately executing transactions, performing calculations, and producing reports. Mistakes could lead to financial loss, penalties and reputational damage.
When the stakes are high, so are the stress levels.
Constant regulatory and compliance demands
The financial landscape is constantly evolving, with policy updates rolled out annually, in some cases, quarterly. Best practice suggests that compliance teams in the finance industry should review regulatory updates weekly, anticipating major internal policy updates every 1 to 3 months.
Employees must constantly remain informed of updates, often amending internal policies under tight deadlines. Scrutiny is high, as is accountability, with mistakes coming with legal and financial consequences. These prolonged periods of high stress are one of the most common causes of burnout.
Why is burnout so common in financial services?
Long hours, constant change and personal accountability create a low-resilience, high-stress environment – the perfect storm for burnout. Still, they’re not the only common causes of burnout in finance.
Let's explore what makes burnout in the finance industry such a prevalent issue.
Structural pressures unique to finance
We’ve identified that this is a high-pressure, high-stakes environment. Errors don’t just lead to business reputational damage; employees can be personally liable. That’s a lot of pressure and responsibility to carry.
You’d think, given the stakes, that employees would have ample time to produce their work. On the contrary. It’s a deadline-driven industry, with reporting and auditing cycles alongside project work to secure lucrative deals.
Cultural drivers of burnout
High risk, high stakes, high payout. It’s an environment that many thrive in. Are you picturing Leonardo DiCaprio and his team in The Wolf of Wall Street? Us, too. While Hollywood somewhat embellished the story, it’s based on a real person and their life as a stockbroker, and a cautionary tale on abiding by the regulations.
Back to the blog...
Working in finance often means long hours, unpredictable workloads, and the need to always be on. Being overworked is the norm, yet a lack of staff resources is the biggest cause of stress for 28% of workers in this sector (IFA Magazine).
Organisational culture cements these expectations by rewarding them, and performance metrics that prioritise output over sustainability are commonplace.
The role of regulation and compliance
Regulations change multiple times a year, and employees may be held personally accountable for mistakes. Lack of understanding isn’t an acceptable excuse. Compliance is mandatory.
In addition to following the ever-evolving rules, the financial industry is plagued by those trying to break them, and the constant threat of fraud and security breaches is the most significant cause of workplace stress for 19% of financial industry employees.
Then there’s the changing economic landscape, the slumps, the peaks. 20% of employees in the financial sector cite financial uncertainty as their biggest source of stress (IFA Magazine).
Signs and symptoms of burnout in finance professionals
If you haven’t done so yet, download your free copy of our burnout guide. In addition to walking you through the five stages of burnout, it includes a checklist to help you recognise the signs.
What are the signs of burnout in finance? How can you spot it emerging?
Behavioural and emotional indicators
As Rob Murray shares during our podcast, ‘The Row to Resilience: New beginnings with New Pangea’, he became incredibly irritable and disengaged in his role. One of his turning points, a moment when he began to realise all was not well, was when he was driving to work for a shift -- he was quite senior in the police force at this time -- and he got stuck in traffic. He was going to be late, and he didn’t care. In fact, he was relieved.
This story ticks so many of the behavioural and emotional indicators: disengagement, cynicism and loss of motivation.
Physical and cognitive warning signs
Burnout doesn’t just affect your mood; it impacts your body. Trouble concentrating on tasks, low energy and productivity, and feeling dissatisfied when you’ve previously found your job enjoyable are all signs of burnout.
These may not be that noticeable at first. You could even put these changes down to tiredness or feeling under the weather. More noticeable warning signs include sleep disruption, reduced concentration and decision-making quality. The biggest red flag is chronic fatigue, which impairs all areas of daily functioning.
Organisational red flags leaders should watch out for
How do leaders and managers spot the signs of burnout in finance teams?
Ensure managers understand the emotional and physical signs of burnout and recognise behavioural and emotional changes in their colleagues. In addition to changes in engagement and mood, the work itself may also give indicators of burnout.
Watch out for increased errors or near-misses. Review absenteeism data and monitor your employee turnover rate.
The impact of burnout on individuals and financial institutions
Burnout doesn’t just affect people. It affects your business’s bottom line.
Burnout and other stress-related illnesses cost the economy £57.4 billion annually (Deloitte). It makes you wonder about the cost of burnout in financial services, given it’s the industry with the highest risk.
Impact on performance and decision-making
We’ve established that mistakes can lead to legal, financial, and reputational damages. Burnout increases the risk of these mistakes, and here's what they could cost you.
In 2024, Barclays was fined £40 million by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Metro Bank was fined £16 million for inadequate monitoring of potential money laundering activities (Ruleup).
In the financial industry, mistakes come with a hefty price tag.
Business consequences
Being hit with a multi-million-pound fine is a substantial business consequence, but it’s not the only one.
High-stress workplaces often see higher employee turnover. Financial Reporter reveals that 31% of financial services and banking professionals are planning to leave the industry due to high pressure.
The average wage in the UK finance industry is £57,435, and it will cost that and more to replace a single employee.
It's not just about the cost of replacing people. 80% of UK finance leaders are concerned about a growing lack of talent entering the finance sector (IFA magazine). There’s a skills gap emerging in the industry, which makes top talent more appealing to your competitors. It also makes replacing skills more challenging.
Alongside retention risks, poor engagement also impacts your bottom line and represents a reputational risk.
Roles and areas most at risk of burnout in finance
Let’s explore finance industry burnout by role. Who’s at the most risk of burnout and why?
Investment banking and capital markets
Investment bankers, merger and acquisition analysts, associates, and traders in the investment banking and capital markets areas are at a high risk of burnout.
Here’s why:
- They work long and unpredictable hours
- They operate on a deal-driven cycle with intense peaks
- On a high salary, there’s an expectation that they’re ‘always on’
- High stakes and high risks. Mistakes can be costly
- It’s a competitive, high-performance environment
- Regulated and policy-driven, they lack autonomy over their work
- They’re likely struggling to switch off at night and battling sleep deprivation.
Accounting, audit, and tax
This area includes auditors, accountants, and tax specialists who often face seasonal pressures and regulatory deadlines.
Here’s why the burnout risk is high:
- Seasonal workload spikes
- Repetitive, detail-heavy work with zero tolerance for error
- Long hours combined with monotony
- Regulatory and compliance pressure
- They’re working with a sustained cognitive load
- Outside of seasonal peaks, recognition and their sense of accomplishment are low.
Compliance, risk, and legal teams
These teams have to be the most vigilant. They’re often advising others in the business, so they’re working in an environment of constant personal accountability.
Here’s why the burnout risk is high:
- Continuous vigilance and responsibility
- Personal accountability for regulatory breaches
- Reactive work driven by incidents, audits, or regulatory change
- Often under-resourced relative to responsibility
- There aren’t often visible ‘wins’, which can lead to a lack of appreciation
- They’re at a high risk of emotional fatigue.
How to alleviate the risk of burnout in the finance industry
33% of financial services professionals agree that reducing workload could reduce burnout; 25% want more managerial support; and 23% want better tech to help them do their jobs more efficiently (Financial Reporter).
So, what are the best ways to reduce burnout in finance? Let’s explore three ways leaders in the finance industry can reduce burnout in their workplace.
1. Redesigning workload and expectations
33% of finance professionals agree that a more realistic approach to capacity planning will help reduce burnout. It’s a deadline-heavy industry, so prioritisation and deadline management will help reduce pressure and stress. Tasks in the finance industry are heavily regulated, so reducing unnecessary complexities and improving working practices with better tech will help to alleviate burnout.
2. Building a sustainable performance culture
The recurring theme is that the finance industry rewards those who put in extra hours and do more than is sustainable. The industry would benefit from a cultural shift that focuses on positive outcomes and quality deliverables rather than the number of hours clocked.
Finance employees clearly need to set boundaries. Most employees will happily work beyond their contracted hours to get a project over the line now and then, but not every day. It’s simply not sustainable – emotionally, mentally, or physically.
They also need to be granted some downtime after periods of intense working or putting in those extra hours, so they can properly recover. Employees in the finance sector need to be empowered to help make these changes, so a culture of psychological safety is vital.
3. Supporting individual resilience without shifting blame
The cultural shift starts with the business leaders, but you still need to focus on your people, helping them build resilience and the personal resources necessary to better manage stress.
During this process, it’s essential that you don’t give the impression that burnout happens because your employees aren’t resilient enough. That’s shifting the blame from poor culture to your people, and they won’t appreciate it.
Start with providing mental health resources and education. An Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) can be invaluable, as can training Mental Health First Aiders (MHFAs).
Avoid wellbeing and resilience washing. Ensure your efforts are meaningful and impactful, backed up by the necessary cultural and behavioural changes from leadership.
We've already touched on the importance of psychological safety, but empowering employees to raise concerns and recognise the signs of burnout in themselves is crucial for early detection.
Read our blog, ‘How to promote positive mental health and wellbeing in the workplace’, for more information, and listen to our inspiring podcast hosted by our own MHFAs below.
The role of leadership in preventing burnout
Leadership burnout prevention initiatives are vital to reducing the risk of burnout. They’ve got to live and breathe the new ethos and culture, which means a considerable change in behaviour and perspective for those who may have worked in the industry for some time.
Manager accountability and role modelling
Trian managers to embrace the new ways of working and rewarding their teams, empowering them to set healthy norms, to respect work-life balance and lead by example.
Training leaders to spot burnout early
Use our burnout guide to recognise the early warning signs and the steps to reduce the risk at each stage. We also include a checklist you can use with your teams during one-to-one meetings.
Remove the stigma and embarrassment by fostering a culture of openness through effective, supportive conversations.
Aligning incentives with sustainable performance
Rethink the way you’re rewarding people, since rewards encourage employees to repeat behaviours. It’s time to embrace sustainable, healthy working practices, so let's rethink KPIs and reward structures.
Our blog, ‘Employee rewards: Your ultimate guide’, will walk you through the steps to creating an inclusive employee rewards strategy.
Organisational strategies that reduce burnout risk
There are many burnout prevention strategies finance industry leaders can implement, which won't cause a headache for HR. You may well have policies and perks already in place that you can utilise to bring the strategies to life and reduce burnout risk.
Below are three examples of burnout prevention in finance.
1. Flexible and hybrid working models
In a deadline-driven environment, there will likely be times when you’ll need to rein in flexible ways of working, such as when a work deadline is non-negotiable and not adhering to it has financial and legal implications.
Embrace flexibility outside of these peak times and deadline-driven projects, giving employees autonomy over their working day. Many businesses in the finance industry are calling for a return to the office. While there are benefits in terms of learning and collaboration, it pays to offer hybrid opportunities when they make sense, to give your workforce the flexibility needed to more easily manage life outside of work. We should also keep in mind the growing number of employees who would reject a role that doesn’t offer flexibility.
Read our blog, ‘The importance of work-life balance & how employers can enhance it’ for more on this subject.
2. Process, technology, and automation
Suvodeep Das, VP of Global Marketing at Pluxee – our Global HQ – joined Matt Phelan, Co-CEO of The Happiness Index, for a podcast called, ‘Can AI Make People happy?’
"Whenever employees feel a strong sense of purpose, engagement skyrockets. The exciting thing with AI is that you enhance that sense of purpose by linking it with their roles to free up time and help them focus on doing meaningful and creative work."
Suvo effectively sums up the role AI has in your working day. You can use it to reduce manual workload and eliminate low-value tasks, freeing your human workforce to focus on innovation.
3. Embedding wellbeing into risk management
Burnout is an operational risk. It’s costing you money in terms of absenteeism-- burnout that can take months to recover from -- and reduced productivity. If employees make mistakes as a result of burnout, you’ll also face potential fines and legal action.
It takes more than training to prevent these mistakes. You need healthy employees, too.
Build stress and burnout monitoring into your internal governance model, along with regular workload and capacity reviews. Define ownership and actions to take when you identify potential issues and risks, ensuring you resolve them before they impact operations.
Measuring and managing burnout risk in finance teams
Burnout risk management warrants its own section in your policies and processes because its impact can be costly – financially, legally and reputationally.
Key metrics and indicators
Burnout indicators and metrics to measure include:
- Engagement: Engagement dips can be an indicator of poor wellbeing, increased stress and potential burnout.
- Turnover: Measure your employee turnover rate and review exit interview data.
- Absence: Is absenteeism high or rising? Record reasons for sickness absences to identify signs of burnout. Learn how to measure and reduce absenteeism in our blog, 'How to Reduce Employee Absenteeism'.
- Error rates: Monitor performance, specifically errors and outputs. If an employee who is usually accurate and thorough begins to make more errors than you’d expect, it could be a sign of stress.
Using surveys and feedback effectively
The list above offers ways to monitor burnout that don’t involve speaking to employees, but you should still build feedback into your strategy. Honest employee feedback is a vital part of creating a culture of openness and psychological safety. Pulse surveys capture employees’ feelings in the moment, so consider implementing them after a big sprint or peak season to identify how that period affected them vs calmer periods.
Avoid implementing too many surveys during the year – survey fatigue is real, and ensure you acknowledge and act on the feedback you receive to earn trust.
Creating a more sustainable future for financial services
Burnout can cost you your talent, your reputation and your profits, so a prevention strategy should be a strategic priority. We’ve given you everything you need to get started in this blog: facts to build into your business case, how to identify burnout, and how to alleviate it.
Performance matters, but to protect your most valuable assets – your people – balancing it with wellbeing is crucial. It’s how you reduce risks and remain compliant.
Finance is a fast-paced, high-stakes industry, and it’s been this way for years. There’s that old saying, ‘If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.’ While you may not think the machine is broken because it’s still lucrative, the stats tell a different story.
The people who power the industry are breaking, with 13 million people at risk of habitual burnout and exhaustion. Investing in and prioritising their wellbeing today secures a sustainable and resilient future.
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