Anxiety in the Workplace
Anxiety is not just a personal problem. It’s a workplace one.
In fast-paced, high-pressure work environments, anxiety can quietly shape how people show up, perform, and engage. And while occasional stress is part of any job, chronic workplace anxiety is something different. It’s persistent, draining, and often goes unspoken. It affects not just individuals, but entire teams, cultures, and outcomes.
Understanding what workplace anxiety looks like, what triggers it, and how both employees and employers can respond is a critical step toward creating a healthier, more inclusive workplace.
What is Workplace Anxiety?
Workplace anxiety is characterized by persistent feelings of stress, nervousness, or dread related to work responsibilities, environments, or expectations. While occasional stress is normal (and even healthy in small doses!) and going to play a part in any professional setting, chronic anxiety can severely impact your performance and job satisfaction.
Common fears include:
Judgement
Fear of failing
Navigating a difficult team dynamic
Performance pressure
Job security
Tight deadlines
Fitting in
Not being perfect
When workplace anxiety hits, it affects both employees and the broader organization. And, if left unaddressed, it can lead to a number of negative consequences, from burnout and absenteeism to health complications.
The Rise of Anxiety at Work
In today’s high-pressure work culture, anxiety is a common, albeit invisible, reality for many workers, leaders, and executives. Consider that:
An estimated 12 billion working days are lost every year due to mental health conditions, costing around $1 trillion USD.
41% of workers have reported stress as a reason for being less productive.
15% of workers have admitted to looking for a new job due to stress.
For Gen Zs and Millennials, the main sources of stress include: intense workloads, poor work-life balance, and the inability to be themselves.
In a survey by Workhuman, 61% of U.S. respondents said that, while they are productive at work, it has come at a cost to their personal life.
“Productivity anxiety” has increased to 80%, which has risen alongside the emphasis on hustle culture and prioritizing productivity over all else.
Even more crucial is understanding that workplace anxiety does not just stay at work. It spills into the lives of your employees, affecting sleep, relationships, and their overall wellbeing.
Statistics on Workplace Anxiety
One study found that workplace-related anxieties are associated with increased sick leave with 71% of female respondents and 54% of male respondents reporting to take leave due to suffering from workplace-related anxiety.
According the World Health Organization (WHO), a total of 12 billion working days are lost to anxiety and depression globally every year.
According to recent research:
80% of workers report feeling stressed on the job with half of them needing help in learning to manage stress
10% fear their co-workers may get violent at some point due to workplace stress
Nearly 120,000 deaths in the US are associated with workplace annually
Due to reduced productivity, anxiety and depression cost the global economy up to $1 trillion annually
What Triggers Anxiety at Work?
Workplace anxiety does not always have a single, clear cause. In fact, it often stems from a combination of factors, such as:
Toxic work cultures or bullying
Unrealistic expectations and overlapping deadlines
Lack of support, flexibility, or transparency
Harassement and discrimination
Unsafe or poor working conditions
Understaffing and excessive workloads
With these in mind, you can see that these triggers can be both situations (e.g., high-stakes client meetings) or systemic (e.g. discrimination or understaffing). More crucially, individuals who already have anxiety or trauma will naturally be more vulnerable within high-stress situations and non-inclusive environments.
Oftentimes, when workplaces hold rigid hierarchies, have an “always-on” mentality, or encourage competition, anxiety worsens across all levels of staff, both individuals with and without pre-existing mental health conditions.
Recognizing the Signs of Anxiety at Work
Some common signs that anxiety is creeping into your worklife might include:
Difficulty concentrating and making decisions
Irritability and a short temper
Fatigue or headaches
A sense of intense Sunday Dread (AKA the “Sunday Scaries”)
Procrastination and avoidance
Of course, these signs can manifest differently depending on the individual. People from marginalized groups, for example, may mask anxiety to avoid additional stigma, which can often delay intervention and support structures.
What Employees Can Do to Manage Workplace Anxiety
Addressing anxiety starts with small, intentional steps. But where do you start?
Here are some steps you can take (in no particular order) to help mitigate your anxiety:
✅ Acknowledge What You’re Feeling
Don’t dismiss your stress as “just part of the job.” Burnout and anxiety are real, and self-compassion, not perfectionism, is a key aspect towards recovery.
✅ Identify Your Triggers
Empower yourself to manage anxiety by learning what sparks it. Not all anxiety is random; many symptoms have a pattern, and noticing patterns can assist in regaining a sense of control.
Start by tracking when and where your anxiety tends to flare. You might ask yourself:
👉 Do I feel tense before team meetings or performance reviews?
👉 Does my heart race after reading certain emails or messages?
👉 Do I dread specific tasks or feel paralyzed by too many at once?
👉 Is there a recurring person, environment, or time of day that drains me?
👉 Do I feel most anxious after checking my calendar or receiving a new assignment?
Try keeping a daily log, even a brief sentence or two, to reveal what is troubling you. Over time, you will begin to notice patterns that allow you to prepare ahead of time, set boundaries, and advocate for yourself more effectively.
Remember: triggers are not about finding blame, but finding awareness. And awareness is what helps you act, not just react.
✅ Set Micro-Boundaries
You don’t need sweeping changes to reduce anxiety. Sometimes, it’s about finding space for those micro-boundaries that make the biggest impact on your life. These are small, intentional pauses or limits you set throughout the day to give your nervous system a chance to relax.
Try these to start:
Practice breathing techniques or grounding exercises, such as the 4-7-8 breathing technique.
Turn off non-urgent notifications during focused work blocks, breaks, and lunch.
Set a “shutdown ritual” at the end of the day to help transition from work. This could be anything from playing a specific song, having a shower, getting some tea, or anything else that will help your mind leave work at work.
✅ Stay Organized, but Realistic
An overflowing to-do list can quietly fuel anxiety, especially if you’re aiming for perfection, not progress, or tackling everything all at once. Getting organized can definitely help, but being realistic about what you can achieve and when is another step.
Not only does this kind of planning ease anxiety, but it shows maturity and an understanding of your own abilities to managers, leadership, and even other team members. Ask yourself:
👉 What’s realistic for me to get done today/this week?
👉 What can be delegated or simplified?
👉 Can I build in additional buffer time in case of unexpected delays?
✅ Know Your Rights
If anxiety affects your job performance, you don’t have to suffer in silence. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects workers with mental health conditions, and the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) helps employers and employees by providing free, expert guidance on accommodations and disabilities.
You’re entitled to request reasonable accommodations, such as schedule adjustments or task modifications. You can also explore outside support: therapy, coaching, or talking with trusted friends or family.
How Can Leadership Work to Reduce Anxiety Amongst Employees?
Firstly, it’s important to fully acknowledge and understand that anxiety disorders (e.g. generalized anxiety disorder, acute stress disorder, panic disorder, PTSD and more) are legitimate, highly individualized mental health conditions.
That is to say that supporting employee mental health is crucial and goes beyond offering just resources. It means reshaping the conditions that might contribute to anxiety in the first place, modelling and reinforcing workplace norms, and encouraging psychological safety, autonomy, and balance.
🛠️ Update Workplace Policies
Review HR and operational policies via a mental health and equity lens, focusing on how stress, bias, and power dynamics show up in the everyday employee experience, particularly for your workplace.
Consider:
Are performance expectations clear and consistent?
Do your policies address workplace bullying, micromanagement, and chronic overwork?
Is flexibility built in for people navigating mental health challenges and neurodivergence?
Also: offer accommodations proactively and normalize accommodations such as flexible scheduling, workload adjustment, and mental health days before burnout is a crisis.
🧰 Provide Mental Health Benefits
Access to therapy, coaching, or mental health resources matter. Emphasize that employees have clear, affordable, and culturally component mental health resources. This includes, but is not limited to:
Coverage for therapy, counseling, or coaching
Reimbursement options for services not covered by standard insurance policies
Multilingual and culturally safe providers for marginalized employees
💬 Implement Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs)
EAPs are one of the most underutilized resources in workplaces, often because employees don’t even know they exist or fear the stigma associated with accessing them. These include: referrals, short-term counseling, and support for personal and work-based challenges.
Increase the impact of EAPs by including them in onboarding and reminding employees in team communications and meetings.
🧠 Train Leaders to Lead with Empathy
Empathy is not just a “soft skill”. It’s a part of good leadership, especially in high-stress environments. Equip managers with the tools to:
Recognize signs of anxiety, overwhelm, or burnout
Have supportive conversations with employees around workload and well-being
Understand the intersection of mental health and identity (e.g., how racism, ableism, or gender bias compound anxiety)
Apply trauma-informed, inclusive leadership principles in decision-making
You can do this via mental health or neurodiversity training. These can also be helpful for employees to help achieve a culture of kindness, empathy, and understanding.
🧱 Foster a Culture of Psychological Safety
Policies and benefits matter, but culture is the ultimate determinant of whether employees feel safe to utilize them.
You can build psychological safety by:
Encourage and actively participate in vulnerability from the top down. When leaders share their own boundaries and struggles for help, they normalize asking for help.
Respond to concerns with care and empathy, and work towards solutions.
Address harmful behaviors transparently and quickly.
When employees trust that their workplace has their back, they’re more likely to show up, speak up, and thrive.
Case Studies: How Leading Companies Support Mental Health
Many employers have taken the lead in supporting their employees to create a more conducive workplace with relevant mental health resources:
Nike
Nike offers employees and their families access to 20 free therapy sessions per year, wellness coaching, and on-site fitness centers. They also include mental health days as part of their leave policies, recognizing the importance of preventative care.
American Express
American Express emphasizes their embedded support systems for employees via their EAP services. Included is professional counselling and additional tools and resources that are available 24/7. They also provide mental health training to senior staff to promote a positive culture from the top down.
Salesforce
Salesforce proudly displays their workplace benefits, emphasizing the goal to go beyond the term “wellbeing” as just words and offer something more. This includes access to financial advisors and resources, wellbeing tools via Thrive Global, and coaching to help plan and be your best self at work.
Workplace Anxiety Is a Culture Issue. Not a Character Flaw.
Anxiety thrives in silence. But when organizations take mental health seriously by embedding support, flexibility, and inclusion into everyday culture, everyone benefits.
And remember: reducing workplace anxiety is not about providing yoga classes or lunches. It’s about shifting the system as a whole, leading with empathy, prioritizing mental health, and creating environments where people feel seen, safe, and supported.
Don’t just retain your talent: unlock it through support and empathy.
FAQ: Quick Answers to Your Workplace Anxiety Questions
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Yes and no. While they can overlap, workplace anxiety is specifically triggered by job-related factors like deadlines, coworker dynamics, or professional pressure. It may contribute or worsen general anxiety, however.
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That depends! Ideally, you feel comfortable enough to express your needs, but not every workplace builds that in. However, know that you do have your rights: under the ADA, mental health conditions such as anxiety can qualify for accommodations. If anxiety affects work, it’s okay to seek adjustments.
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Leaders can do a lot. They set the tone for organizations through policies, transparency, modelling positive behaviors, and fostering psychological safety. By updating workflows, addressing harmful dynamics, and investing in real support such as training and mental health benefits, they can assist in creating a more sustainable (and more human!) workplace.
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Most definitely, and not always in ways that are easy to see. Anxiety can lead to avoidance, overworking, burnout, and physical health symptoms. Over time, it also affects confidence and concentration. However, with the right support systems in place, employees can thrive: not in spite of their anxiety, but with strategies to manage it.
