The Hidden Crisis Behind the People Profession

Human Resources (HR) professionals are often tasked as the caretakers of workplace culture—the first line of defense when employees struggle with mental health challenges. But what happens when the people supporting everyone else start to struggle too? Who is taking care of HR?

Since the pandemic, a quiet crisis has been unfolding inside the profession. HR professionals are reporting higher rates of depression, anxiety, burnout, compared to other employees. New data shows many HR professionals in the U.S. are so drained from the emotional toll of managing employee issues—among other drivers—that nearly half are considering leaving the field entirely. 

That kind of exodus will have far-reaching consequences, and should make every leader take pause. To understand what’s driving this crisis, let’s look at the unique pressures HR leaders are experiencing, and explore what solutions might turn the tide.

COVID-19 as the tipping point. When the pandemic hit, HR was thrust into uncharted territory. HR was asked to rapidly redesign policies, monitor shifting government guidelines, decide whether to shut down offices, and manage employee safety—often in real time. This period of nonstop reactivity laid the groundwork for heightened stress, long hours, and blurred boundaries that continue within the role today.

Compassion fatigue. In 2020, in parallel to the pandemic, a racial reckoning sparked by the murder of George Floyd, reshaped workplace conversations about mental health, racial equity, public health, and organizational responsibility. HR professionals were tasked with holding space for employees navigating grief, racial trauma, and heightened anxiety—while continuing to manage everyday workplace challenges and  job priorities. Compassion fatigue, often associated with frontline caregivers like doctors or social workers, has become a reality in HR: the cumulative toll of absorbing others’ suffering until empathy begins to erode. And it hasn’t let up, with constant change as the new normal. Political polarization, climate-related disasters, and economic uncertainty are keeping stress levels high across the workforce, with HR continuing to live in “reactive mode,” constantly responding to crises.

Competing priorities. HR operates at the intersection of business and employee advocacy, a role that can feel like a delicate balancing act. This year, performance management is now the top priority for 40% of HR teams globally, closely followed by employee engagement. While strong people strategy drives business results, including performance, HR professionals are often forced to justify to leadership that supporting people is good for business. They field employees’ grievances and struggles, only to see needed solutions stall because they can’t implement them without leadership buy-in—or budget. The constant push-and-pull leaves HR stuck in the middle between leaders’ and employees’ desires, and exhausted from trying to push change upward and downward, often without success.

A lack of resources. Well-being budgets, among others, frequently take a backseat to what are traditionally seen as “revenue-generating” priorities. Many HR professionals know that investments in manager training, mental health initiatives, or employee development can prevent many workplace problems before they start. Too often, the issues landing on HR’s desk—performance conflicts, grievances, interpersonal tensions, or compliance errors—stem from undertrained or inexperienced managers. Without sufficient budget and buy-in for manager development, HR ends up trapped in a cycle of constantly cleaning up preventable challenges, and employee engagement and productivity often suffer as a result.

Using data from Mind Share Partners’ 2025 Mental Health at Work report with Qualtrics, we compared the well-being of HR professionals to that of employees in non-HR roles this year, and found that: 

• Burnout and mental health challenges are widespread. HR professionals are more likely to report moderate to severe burnout (54% vs. 48% of non-HR), depression (54% vs. 44%), and anxiety (51% vs. 42%).
  
  

• Moral injury is common. HR professionals are increasingly caught in moral dilemmas, and tasked to execute actions they don’t agree with. Nearly half (46%) say they’ve witnessed things at work that go against their values compared to just 29% of their non-HR counterparts. More than one-third (46%) admit they’ve done things they felt were misaligned with their morals—double that of non-HR workers (18%).
  
  

• Disconnecting is harder for HR. While HR enjoys more flexibility to work from home, they are less able to switch off. Only 48% say they can disconnect after hours, compared to 57% of non-HR employees.
  
  

• A bright spot, talking about mental health is easier. If there’s a silver lining, it’s this: HR is leading by example when it comes to mental health. Seventy percent have talked about their mental health at work, compared to just over half of non-HR employees. They are also more comfortable talking about their mental health with senior leaders.

Finally, while HR often thrives in terms of purpose—74% say the effort they put into work feels worth it—the personal cost is high. Going back to the balancing act between employer and employee needs, nearly 40% of HR professionals reported that “no matter how hard I work, things won’t get better.”

If organizations want to retain HR talent, they need to rethink how this vital role is supported. Here are several solutions worth considering.

1. Embrace sustainable ways of working

Small shifts can protect HR professionals from chronic overwhelm. It means setting boundaries like taking real lunch breaks away from screens, having clear prioritization and work blocks so the most important work gets done, and including daily flex time to respond to issues that inevitably pop up . These habits work even better when discussed and reinforced at the HR team level.

2 Leaders need to be active in championing well-being
HR can’t be the only role modeling mentally healthy behavior—they need visible support from leadership. When executives openly discuss their mental health or fully unplug on vacation, it signals that it’s safe for everyone—including HR—to do the same. While allyship is most effective from the top, if that’s not possible, HR can model healthy practices and share strategies with managers to normalize sustainable work habits.

3. Implement smarter role design.
As HR helps shape team structures, they can influence workload design. Is the scope of a job manageable? Does it balance individual work with the true time demands of management responsibilities? Building in 5–10% “flex time” for unexpected projects can prevent job creep and burnout. This same design should be applied to HR roles. Think about actions that can free up time and energy for HR leaders, like investing in supportive HR technologies or streamlining role priorities. 

4. Leverage AI to free up strategic capacity.
As mentioned, emerging technology like AI tools can handle aid in repetitive, administrative or content-heavy tasks such as drafting job descriptions or scheduling interviews. This opens up time and capacity for HR to handle the more strategic nature of the role. With the AI space developing and evolving at a rapid rate, we’ll see more ways AI can be integrated into HR work, alleviating some pressure. Be sure to implement AI thoughtfully and manage potential risks.

5. Invest in manager training.
As mentioned earlier, training managers delivers a high return. It reduces the number of issues HR has to manage later. Giving managers skills—especially around workplace mental health, navigating conversations, and knowing their role and when to involve HR—helps prevent crises and enables managers to address issues before they reach HR’s desk.

6. Provide mental health training for HR.
HR training needs to include well-being content on two fronts: supporting colleagues and supporting oneself. Like the training social workers or therapists receive, HR professionals need skills and tools to approach their work sustainably.

At Mind Share Partners, we believe HR deserves the same support they’ve been working so tirelessly to give others. HR has never been an ‘easy job.’ but in the past five years, it has become one of the most emotionally taxing roles in the workplace—with no reprieve in sight amid ongoing change and uncertainty.

The risk of inaction is real. If HR burnout continues, organizations will lose the very people who shape culture, support employees, and advocate for mental health. But by investing in HR and embedding sustainability into their role, companies can not only improve conditions but also help keep talented HR leaders from leaving the profession.

Rebekka Bagatsing leads the work of attracting, engaging, developing, and retaining great talent for the organization. Rebekka’s focus areas include talent planning and acquisition, onboarding, benefits and compensation, performance management, staff development, and culture. In addition, she facilitates Mind Share Partners’ workplace training and leads strategic projects for clients.