Workplace Burnout in 2025: Are You Seeing the Red Flags?
Burnout isn’t new — but in 2025, it’s taking on new forms. With the hybrid workforce becoming the norm, digital overload increasing, and employees demanding more from their employers, workplace burnout remains one of the most pressing challenges facing businesses today.
So the question is: Are you seeing the red flags? Or worse — ignoring them?
In this article, we’ll explore how burnout shows up in today’s workforce, what’s driving it in 2025, and how proactive strategies like wellbeing audits, team training, and manager coaching can help prevent it.
What Is Workplace Burnout in 2025?
Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress — often from work. It leads to reduced performance, low morale, increased absenteeism, and turnover. But burnout in 2025 is no longer just about long hours.
It’s about complexity, disconnection, and unclear boundaries.
Common causes today include:
- Always-on digital communication
- Blurred lines between home and work life
- Lack of psychological safety
- Poor leadership or ineffective management
- Increased workloads without support
And the impacts? They’re costing organisations millions in lost productivity, sick leave, and disengagement.
7 Red Flags of Workplace Burnout to Watch For
Whether you’re an HR leader, manager, or business owner, these are the signs you can’t afford to ignore:
- Increased absenteeism or frequent “sick days”
- Visible disengagement — employees mentally checking out
- Drop in performance or motivation
- High staff turnover or exit interviews citing stress
- Workplace conflicts or communication breakdowns
- Negative shifts in team culture
- Managers showing signs of stress or overwhelm themselves
Burnout is contagious. If one part of the business is struggling, it can spread — fast.
Why Burnout Matters More Than Ever
In 2025, wellbeing is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s a competitive advantage.
Employees are increasingly choosing workplaces that prioritise mental health, flexible working, and supportive cultures. When burnout goes unchecked, it undermines your employer brand, retention efforts, and performance metrics.
The bottom line: Companies that ignore wellbeing are being left behind.
How to Tackle Burnout Before It Starts
1. Wellbeing Audits
A wellbeing audit helps you assess where your organisation currently stands. Are workloads realistic? Are employees getting the support they need? Are your policies aligned with today’s mental health standards?
An audit provides the clarity and insight to take targeted action.
2. Team Training
From resilience workshops to mental health awareness sessions, team training creates shared language and accountability. It also helps employees recognise burnout — in themselves and others — before it spirals.
3. Manager Coaching
Often, burnout stems from poor or undertrained management. Manager coaching equips your leaders with the skills to have difficult conversations, delegate effectively, support struggling team members, and model healthy work-life boundaries.
Conclusion
Burnout in 2025 isn’t going away — but your organisation can do something about it. The first step is recognising the red flags and taking proactive, strategic action to support your people.
Whether it’s a tailored wellbeing audit, targeted team training, or bespoke manager coaching, investing in your people is the best defence against burnout — and one of the smartest business moves you can make this year.
Start the New Financial Year Strong with a Team Reset Offsite
The new financial year is the ideal moment to reset your team’s focus, energy, and connection. A tailored offsite can bring clarity, boost morale, and set your people up for success. Our partner, offers nature-based offsite experiences designed for lasting impact. Out of Bounds
Why a Team Reset Offsite Could Be the Most Valuable Investment You Make This Financial Year
As the new financial year approaches, many small to medium-sized businesses are revisiting budgets, strategies, and team goals. But one essential ingredient often gets overlooked: giving your team the space to reset and reconnect.
Team reset offsites aren’t just a “nice-to-have”, they’re a smart, proactive way to refocus your people, boost morale, and ensure your team is equipped to hit the ground running.
Liquid HR has partnered with Out of Bounds, a leadership and team development business that specialises in designing offsites that are practical, energising, and aligned with your business goals. Their focus? Helping teams develop in a way that has ongoing impact – not just a one-off feel-good day.
Why now?
The start of the financial year is a natural point for reflection and renewal. After the push to close out Q4, most teams benefit from pausing to:
- Reconnect with each other
- Reflect on what’s working (and what’s not)
- Re-energise around a shared purpose and direction
In small businesses, team dynamics can make or break momentum. Misalignment, fatigue, or unspoken frustrations can quietly erode performance. A well-designed offsite can bring those dynamics to light and shift them in a constructive, forward-looking way.
What does a good offsite look like?
There’s no cookie-cutter approach, but the most effective offsites are held in an environment that feels distinctly different from the day-to-day, creating the conditions for deep connection, fresh thinking, and growth.
Great offsites create space for…
- Honest, open conversation
- Shared goal setting
- Clarity on priorities and next steps
- Human connection and a sense of fun
Whether it’s a half-day workshop or a full-day reset, the goal is to walk away with more trust, energy, and focus heading into FY26.
The ROI of realignment
We’ve seen the results – better collaboration, clearer communication, and renewed motivation. Research shows that effective team experiences can drive performance, innovation, and retention. It’s a small investment that can make a big difference.
Ready to Explore an Offsite for Your Team?
If you’re thinking about how to set your team up for success in FY26, a team reset offsite could be the best place to start.
Want to explore what this could look like for your business? Get in touch with the team at Out of Bounds to share your needs and discuss what’s possible.
Top 5 HR Risks That Could Cost Your Business in 2025
Your End-of-Quarter Checklist for Compliance and Peace of Mind
As we approach the end of another quarter, HR leaders and business owners are under pressure to ensure compliance, protect their people, and mitigate risk. But in 2025, the HR landscape is more complex than ever — with shifting legislation, evolving workplace expectations, and the increasing cost of getting it wrong.
From wage compliance fines to reputational damage, the risks are real — and expensive.
This blog breaks down the top 5 HR risks businesses face in 2025 and how a simple end-of-quarter checklist can help you stay ahead.
1. Wage and Award Compliance
Still topping the list in 2025: payroll errors and award misinterpretation.
With frequent updates to modern awards, superannuation increases, and evolving minimum wage rates, it’s easier than ever to fall behind. Underpayment scandals continue to make headlines — and even small businesses are under scrutiny.
The risk:
Penalties of up to $935,000 per breach for serious contraventions
Damage to your employer brand
Loss of trust from staff and stakeholders
Your action steps:
✔ Conduct a wage and award compliance audit every quarter
✔ Review any changes to awards that affect your team
✔ Double-check overtime, allowances, and break entitlements
2. Outdated or Missing HR Policies
In 2025, the policies that worked five years ago may no longer cut it.
Whether it’s hybrid work, AI use, psychosocial safety, or diversity and inclusion — businesses need current, legally sound, and clearly communicated HR policies to reduce risk and set expectations.
The risk:
- Inconsistent decision-making
- Exposure in unfair dismissal claims
- Legal liability if your policies don’t align with the Fair Work Act or WHS laws
Your action step:
✔ Review all HR policies for currency and relevance
✔ Update or implement policies on remote work, mental health, and grievance processes
✔ Ensure all employees have read and acknowledge your latest documents
3. Lack of Regular HR or WHS Audits
Many businesses wait until something goes wrong before they act — but by then, it’s too late. Regular HR and WHS audits help identify compliance gaps and cultural risks early, so you can fix them before they escalate.
The risk:
- Breaches of workplace health and safety obligations
- Discrimination or harassment claims
- A reactive culture that drives turnover
Your action steps:
✔ Conduct a quarterly HR audit and risk review
✔ Identify gaps in documentation, training, or compliance
✔ Act on findings — not just file them away
4. Inadequate Manager Training
Managers are on the frontline of your people strategy — yet too often, they’re left without the tools or knowledge to handle complex workplace issues.
From performance management to mental health conversations, manager capability is directly tied to risk reduction and staff retention.
The risk:
- Mishandled disciplinary actions
- Increased staff grievances or legal claims
- Burnout among leaders themselves
Your action steps:
✔ Invest in ongoing manager training and coaching
✔ Provide clear frameworks for performance, feedback, and conflict resolution
✔ Support leaders in building psychologically safe teams
5. Failure to Prepare for Regulatory Changes
Legislation is evolving rapidly. In 2025, topics like sexual harassment prevention, psychosocial hazards, gender pay gap reporting, and AI governance are front and centre. If you’re not keeping up, you could be left exposed.
The risk:
- Non-compliance with Fair Work and WHS obligations
- Costly legal consequences
- Inability to attract or retain top talent
Your action steps:
✔ Subscribe to legislative updates or partner with HR compliance experts
✔ Build change management into your quarterly planning
✔ Get ahead of incoming reforms before they become law
End-of-Quarter HR Risk Checklist
Before you wrap up the quarter, ask:
- Have we audited our wage compliance this quarter?
- Are our policies current, relevant, and accessible?
- Have we completed a recent HR/WHS audit?
- Are our managers trained to handle people risk?
- Are we up to date with 2025 employment law changes?
Hiring Gen Z: Why Traditional Onboarding Fails With the New Workforce
As Gen Z steps into the workforce in growing numbers, many businesses are facing a wake-up call: traditional onboarding simply doesn’t work anymore.
Born between 1997 and 2012, Gen Z is the first truly digital-native generation. They’re tech-savvy, socially conscious, and value authenticity, flexibility, and fast feedback. And when onboarding doesn’t meet their expectations, they’re quick to disengage — or quit.
If you want to attract and retain Gen Z talent in 2025 and beyond, it’s time to rethink how you bring them into your business.
Who Is Gen Z — and What Do They Want at Work?
Gen Z isn’t just “young Millennials.” They bring new expectations, shaped by:
- Growing up during the pandemic and economic uncertainty
- A strong focus on mental health and wellbeing
- Constant access to technology and real-time information
- A desire for purposeful work and inclusive environments
What they want in the workplace:
- Flexibility and work-life balance
- Authentic communication and regular feedback
- Career development and learning opportunities
- A sense of belonging from day one
“Gen Z employees are more likely than any other generation to pursue career advancements.” — ELMO Software
Why Traditional Onboarding Misses the Mark
Most onboarding processes are built for a different era — full of paper-based forms, one-way presentations, and generic policies. But for Gen Z, this can feel impersonal, outdated, and overwhelming.
Here’s where traditional onboarding often fails:
Information Overload
Throwing 100-page handbooks at new hires in their first week doesn’t engage Gen Z — it alienates them. They prefer bite-sized, interactive content that’s easy to absorb.
No Real Connection
Gen Z values human connection and culture. A process that focuses only on logistics — without introducing mentors, buddies, or team culture — falls flat.
Slow Tech and Systems
Clunky systems and long waiting periods for logins, equipment, or training? That’s a major red flag. Gen Z expects seamless digital experiences from the start.
Lack of Purpose or Progress
If your onboarding doesn’t show how their work matters, or doesn’t lay out a clear path for growth, Gen Z will assume your business isn’t serious about development.
How to Fix It: Onboarding That Actually Works for Gen Z
Modern onboarding should be personalised, tech-enabled, and values-driven. Here’s how to meet Gen Z where they are:
1. Go Digital, But Make It Human
Use onboarding platforms that allow for video intros, personalised messages, and easy access to tools. But balance it with real people — buddies, mentors, welcome check-ins.
“Gen Z workers are perfectly primed to experiment, run tests, and develop best practices for how these tools can contribute to your business success.” — Workleap
2. Break It Into Stages
Ditch the one-week info dump. Spread onboarding over 30, 60, or 90 days with clear milestones, check-ins, and learning goals. Gen Z thrives on structure and progression.
3. Embed Your Culture Early
Don’t just hand them a policy — show them what you stand for. Introduce your values, social impact, and DEI commitments in a meaningful way. Culture is a big deal to Gen Z.
4. Prioritise Mental Health and Belonging
Include mental health resources, psychological safety training, and clear support systems in onboarding. Make inclusion visible and felt from day one.
“Employers are encouraged to foster open communication and support mental health initiatives to create psychologically safe workplaces.” — New York Post
5. Feedback Isn’t Optional
Set up regular feedback loops — not just performance reviews. Gen Z wants to know how they’re doing and how they can improve — early and often.
Gen Z in Numbers
- By 2030, Gen Z will make up more than 30% of the global workforce
- 75% of Gen Z workers say they would leave a job if they didn’t feel supported or valued
- 66% say mental health support is a top priority when choosing an employer (Source: Deloitte, Gallup, LinkedIn 2024 Workforce Trends)
“Projected to make up 74% of the global workforce by 2030, Australian Gen Z and millennials are reevaluating success in the workplace.” — Deloitte Australia
Future-Proof Your Talent Strategy
Getting onboarding right isn’t just about reducing turnover — it’s about building a future-ready workforce.
When you tailor onboarding to meet Gen Z’s expectations, you:
- Increase early engagement and retention
- Reduce new hire anxiety and confusion
- Build loyalty and advocacy from the start
- Strengthen your employer brand in a competitive market
“A well-designed onboarding program can improve retention rates, significantly reduce turnover costs, and contribute to organizational stability.” — KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd
By integrating these strategies and insights, your organization can create an onboarding experience that resonates with Gen Z, fostering engagement, satisfaction, and long-term success.
Want Expert Help Implementing These HR Strategies?
Whether you’re looking to prevent employee burnout, redesign your onboarding experience, align your HR policies with upcoming FY 26 compliance, or boost team performance through a strategic offsite — we’re here to support you.
👉 Book a free consultation with one of our HR experts to explore practical, personalised solutions tailored to your business needs.
