Why Burnout Is Rising Even With Wellness Programs

Burnout rates keep climbing. Even in workplaces stacked with perks.

Free yoga at lunch. Generous product allocations. Gym discounts. Smoothie bars. Skateboard ramps in the warehouse.

They’re great in theory. They show your company cares. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: burnout isn’t a perk problem.

It’s a performance infrastructure problem.

Gallup’s latest workplace data shows burnout is still increasing, even in companies with strong wellness programs. Why? Because the root causes aren’t fixed by fruit bowls or fitness passes.

Perks work on the surface. Burnout happens underneath.

It’s about workload design, role clarity, invisible mental load, and the relentless pace of communication. If those don’t change, people keep pushing until they drop - whether or not they have a free yoga class waiting for them after work.

Here’s the shift most leaders miss: Balance isn’t just a skill. It’s a skill that needs permission to execute.

Before anyone will take up the skills of balance, they have to rewire their identity enough to believe it’s acceptable to use them.

That’s why our Lunch & Learns and our Balance Code programs both start with one deceptively simple question:

“What would it say about me if I actually had a work-life balance habit?”

For some, it might trigger fears of being seen as less committed. For others, it might bring up pride in being “always on.” Until those stories shift, the best balance tools in the world won’t stick - because people won’t feel permission to use them.

When we start with identity, the skills of balance land differently. They become non-negotiable.And that’s when the results change: higher capacity, better retention, fewer sick days, and stronger performance.

2-Minute Game Changer:

Audit your wellness perks - then ask the harder question:

Which of these actually changes how work gets done during the day?

For example:

• Does the yoga class mean meetings end on time so people can go?

• Does the gym discount come with protected time to use it?

• Does the fruit bowl replace sugar-laden snacks in every meeting room?

When perks are built into how we work - and when people feel safe to use them - that’s when they start preventing burnout instead of just dressing it up.

Want to go deeper?

Inside The Balance Code Membership, we help humans rewire their willingness to be balanced, then build the skills to make it happen. That’s when your wellness efforts stop sitting on the sidelines - and start showing up in your results.

If you’re ready to move beyond perks and actually protect your people from burnout, book a conversation.

Because fruit bowls can’t fix what workload design- or ingrained self belief, has broken.

Much love,

Cath x