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Recently there has been an increase in environmental stress which has also increased the level of anxiety in the workspace. Workers are unsure if they will have a job when they come in on Monday, and those that are left after mass layoffs find themselves exhausted by the thought of picking up the work of so many others. In some ways we have gone backwards in our world, where we believe that one worker can replace 5 and we do not expect that one worker to be challenged with stress, anxiety, depression, and poor mental health. We have thrown out the idea of work/life balance, an idea we only recently have been able to manage given COVID-19 and the aftermath of the trauma associated with the pandemic (Banton, 2021).��

After COVID-19 there was an overabundance of work for individuals to choose what would work for them as opposed to what they were forced to accept in terms of work environments, workplace culture, work locations, and work/life balance. We even had the proliferation of the “great resignation” where workers chose to leave jobs instead of accepting less than what they were worth or less than what they needed to manage a well lived life (Hughes, 2025). It is accepted that we cannot be all work and that we need to be able to have time in our lives where we can relax and enjoy what we have grown and invested over time. We should not be waiting until retirement to enjoy living, as retirement is also on the chopping block of expedient downsizing.

This is not the first time society has seen a rapid downsizing and retraction in conjunction with economic insecurity; however, it is the first time that the stress of this situation has impacted workers to this degree. The intersection of a volatile election cycle and the recovery from COVID-19, hopefully, will never occur again in our history. If we accept the nuances of this time and this space, we can also see the impact it is having on the morale of our workforce regardless of where you work.

The stress of even finding work or going back into the work force is very reminiscent of the 2008 economic collapse. People found themselves unable to find other jobs and many had to step out of the workforce. This puts extra pressure on those left behind to fill the gaps in the workspace. The idea is that work still must be done even if it is done by fewer people. The pressure of that anxiety hits many harder when they do not have options for where or when they work. Kamarck, (2025) presents the very real issues associated with the rapid downsizing of the federal workforce and the rapid rehiring of several workers to fill the gaps that were created by their firing, nothing could be more confusing or demeaning to workers.

There was a push for more work/life balance that centered the worker as a holistic person and not just as a cog in the wheel of business. Things did change when workers were able to retain some work from home or hybrid work options. This impacted the workers as well as the family as it allowed workers to be present in the family unit. The presence of an individual within the home has a positive impact on the family members because it reconnects the worker to the family. This occurred because of the change in work environment, this also decreased the impact of stress, anxiety, and workplace issues that make going to work everyday feel like a chore or an obligation (Hughes, 2025). Work/life balance contributes to the positive productivity of workers and it allows for a well lived life (Abuhammad et al., 2025). With this in mind, it would be to a leaders advantage to increase work/life balance and embrace it as a work strategy.

We need to have some meaning and purpose in our work for us to want to go to work and be productive. If we hate our job, we will be more likely to not be very invested. We will ‘check out’, ‘quietly quit’ or even contribute to the anxiety that others feel because of our lack of investment in the work product (Jones et al., 2016). However, the worker must define the meaning for themselves, meaning cannot be given to someone, it must be an internal acceptance and recognition of a purpose. Leaders often assume that their Mission and Vision statements will give purpose to their workers. However, if workers do not believe that the leaders really embrace and show the mission/vision then they are perceived as only words on a page, serving no purpose but to appear like they care. Caring is shown through words associated with behavior.��

In addition, we can no longer underestimate the impact of social media on the workspace, anxiety, stress, and happiness can all be predicated on one tweet. The rise and fall of the boardroom and leadership are impacted to such a degree that even CEO’s sometimes get caught in social media fights. It is often asked how social media can be used for the greater good, to improve the lives of workers, but if social media is guided or controlled by the board room then it is just manipulation. This can give a false sense of reality and increase the workplace anxiety that already exists.��

If we consider all of the issues related to our time and space then we know that going back to a toxic work environment- full time, 40+ hours a week, in the office, through traffic, is unsustainable. According to Hughes (2025) “Toxic leadership erodes trust, silences innovation, and fractures teams. The remedy is not a new management fad or algorithmic performance system—it is a renewed commitment to integrity, empathy, and accountability” (p. 149). In addition, we are all aware that positive working conditions contribute to the productivity of the workspace (Abuhammad et al., 2025). In fact, there are several research articles spanning decades which address this very issue, but do we ever stop to really implement anything we find? Haidt (2024) presents us with the concept of the anxious generation, the younger workers coming into our workspaces demanding more from work. It will be interesting to see what they bring and how our workspaces adapt for them, because change must happen for innovation to continue.����