Burnout has a public paper trail now. Glassdoor reported that the share of U.S. reviews mentioning burnout was up 32% year over year as of Q1 2025 — already the highest since they began tracking in 2016, and about 50% above late 2019. By Q1 2026, coverage of Glassdoor’s follow-on cut put mentions about 65% higher than a year earlier, and roughly 2.5× the pre-pandemic rate.
Those numbers are useful. They are also late. A review is what someone writes when the relationship is already sour enough to narrate for strangers. Your job is to hear capacity language while they still have a badge.
Exit interviews measure the people you already lost
| Moment | What you hear | Can you still keep them? |
|---|---|---|
| Roster goes thin | Parking-lot vents, sarcasm, shortcuts | Yes — if someone is listening |
| Anonymous voice (Vent IT) | Capacity, unclear priorities, tools | Yes — themes, not names |
| Engagement score dips | A number without a scene | Maybe — you still lack the story |
| Glassdoor / exit | Polished burnout narrative | Usually no |
- Q4 2019 baseline100
- Q1 2025 (+32% YoY)150
- Q1 2026 (~2.5×)250
Illustrative index from Glassdoor’s published cuts: 100 = Q4 2019, ~150 by Q1 2025, ~250 by Q1 2026 commentary. Internal voice should move before this chart does.
Listen for capacity, not the word “burnout”
People often will not self-diagnose. They will tell you the week has no slack, the priorities reversed, the tool added twenty minutes, the manager is on every call and none of the decisions. Those are Vent IT categories: workload, management, tools. Treat them as early warning, not as HR poetry.
Glassdoor also noted that burned-out staff in a weak market apply to fewer outside jobs. That is not loyalty. That is stuck. Stuck people still leave in their heads. Voice is how you notice before the review goes live.