Why burnout matters

The emotional, psychological and physical effects of burnout on employees will ultimately affect the productivity and profits of their organizations.

By Maureen Dingus, CAE, and Jill Edmonds

Inflation. Global uncertainty. Changing laws and regulations. Many circumstances keep CPAs up at night, but the truth is: Most are out of everyone’s control. 

There is an area, however, largely in the control of CPA firm partners, corporate finance leaders, and anyone else serving in a supervisory role. It’s staff burnout, and it matters.

In the summer issue of Disclosures, we discussed the differences between stress and burnout (unrelenting stress can lead to burnout). The American Psychological Association says burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion and negative attitudes and feelings toward one’s coworkers and job. Burnout takes an immense emotional and physical toll. Read the first article in our series on burnout for more information on its 12 stages and how to identify burnout in yourself and/or colleagues.

From both a personal and organizational standpoint, addressing burnout really does matter, and the research backs it up. Burned out employees are not happy employees, and unhappy employees are not going to be champions for the workplace or interested in company success. 

The physical and psychological effects of burnout can lead to absenteeism, which can affect turnover. In short, if you do not address burnout, you could be setting yourself, your employees, and ultimately your organization up for disaster.

The latest statistics from the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) aren’t promising: nearly half of U.S. workers, 44%, report feeling burned out at work. The effects of burnout manifest psychologically, physically and organizationally in the following ways.

It’s not just in your head

The first signs people may immediately associate with burnout are emotional. Outwardly, burnout can show up like irritability, loss of motivation, emotional detachment, bursts of anger and frustration, despondence about family and job, and many others. 

These signs matter because they can ultimately lead to more serious psychological ailments like insomnia, anxiety, depression and even suicide.

While it is hard to find statistics specifically related to accountants and/or CPAs, some research backs up the hypothesis that accountants are susceptible to mental health issues due to work. The nature of a CPA’s job, whether it’s juggling multiple tax deadlines or the financial statements for a large corporation, lends itself to long hours and high pressure. Data from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales found a third of accountants (30%) suffer mental health issues, with more than half (51%) saying depression and anxiety makes them dread work.

In 2020, Mark Cowan, CPA, J.D., wrote a personal account of his experience as a CPA dealing with depression in the Journal of Accountancy. It should be required reading for all CPAs.

‘Everything hurts’

After the mental effects of burnout, physical effects can set in. Some symptoms can include fatigue, insomnia (either difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep), frequent headaches, muscle pain, digestive pain and a weakened immune system. 

Increased drug and alcohol use can take a toll on the body, but other physical ramifications include heart disease, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes. A depressed immune system can also lead to frequent illness.

A 2022 article in the New York Times says it all with its headline: “Your Body Knows You’re Burned Out.” The article highlights exhaustion and fatigue as obvious first physical signs, with changes in eating habits an indication of burnout as well.

As if it’s not harrowing enough to think about how burnout can affect someone mentally and physically, there is, unbelievably, an ultimate and extreme cost. In 2024, a 35-year-old Bank of America associate and former Green Beret died of acute coronary artery thrombus. The event has been largely attributed to his 100-hour workweeks and a grueling workplace culture.

The corporate price of burnout

Burnout among individual employees can affect the well-being and health of an organization as a whole — ultimately hitting them where it hurts most: profitability. Workers suffering from burnout can lead to presenteeism (they’re working, but they aren’t productive), absenteeism, and, eventually, turnover.

Presenteeism

Who wants a bunch of employees who come to work but are mentally checked out? Companies with an uninspired and unhappy workforce are probably not innovative and hitting all goals. Presenteeism, whether caused by physical ailments or stress, could cut individual productivity by one-third or more.

An article in Harvard Business Review, “Presenteeism: At Work — But Out of It,” says the menace of presenteeism is that it can be difficult to identify. “Unlike absenteeism, presenteeism isn’t always apparent. You know when someone doesn’t show up for work, but you often can’t tell when — or how much — illness or a medical condition hinders someone’s performance.” 

Absenteeism

According to the American Institute of Stress, around 1 million workers are absent from work each day due to stress, costing companies an average of $602 per employee per year. Other notable statistics:

• Depression and anxiety cost the global economy approximately $1 trillion in lost productivity. 
• Job stress is estimated to cost the U.S. economy more than $300 billion due to absenteeism, diminished productivity and accidents.
• Work-related stress costs the United States approximately $190 billion in health care costs, annually.

Turnover

Remember the 44% of Americans SHRM found report being burned out? SHRM also says those employees are three times more likely to be actively searching for another job. That’s not even accounting for the 16% who aren’t burned out but are still actively job hunting.

Sometimes, employees will go so far as to take drastic steps: 34% of workers report moving to lower-paying jobs to protect their mental health.

So, what’s the ultimate cost to an organization? Losing an employee, rehiring, and then onboarding a replacement can cost as much as 1.5 to 2 times the employee’s salary, according to some estimates. C-suite turnover is even more detrimental, costing 213% of salary. When looking at the bottom line, it pays dividends to invest in employee mental health.

Companies have a duty to protect their employees

It goes without saying that no organization wants their employees to pay the ultimate price, like a heart attack due to stress. With the pipeline of students into the accounting profession facing challenges, we need all the great CPAs we can get; the profession can’t afford to lose top talent because of burnout.

In the winter 2025 issue, we’ll discuss strategies you and your organizations can take to combat workplace burnout and promote positive mental wellness.

Maureen Dingus, CAE, is VSCPA chief operating officer. She first joined the Society in the 1990s and now oversees general internal operations and strategy implementation. Maureen gives frequent presentations on topics like strategic planning, mental health, and more through the VSCPA’s Strategic Insights program. She has two children, one a VCU grad and one at JMU, and in her free time combines her love for running and music in Rocktown Racers, her running group. 

Jill Edmonds, VSCPA senior director of marketing and communications, joined the Society in 2003. She has decades of experience in association communications and reporting, and has acted as managing editor of Disclosures magazine since she began. She lives in Leesburg, Va., with her family and three teenagers, one of whom attends Virginia Tech. She is a proud graduate of the University of Virginia and her favorite punctuation mark is the em-dash.