3 types of work stress

According to Gallup's latest "State of the Global Workplace" report, 40% of employees worldwide said they experienced "a lot of stress" the previous day, and 56% said they were struggling.

Oftentimes, stress is attributed to growing workloads. In a 2024 study, almost half of workers worldwide said their workloads had increased in the last year, and another study published in 2025 found that chats outside of regular work hours increased by 15% year-over-year while meetings after 8 p.m. increased by 16%.

However, Sawhney and McCord say that just focusing on workload can obscure other, more damaging stressors. In a recent meta-analysis, Sawhney and McCord reviewed 515 studies over the last 60 years that involved almost 788,000 employees worldwide, focusing on three major stressors and what they can predict:

• Role ambiguity: This stressor occurs when employees don't have enough information to understand what is expected of them or how their work will be evaluated. It is viewed as the most detrimental stressor and can lead to lower job satisfaction, work engagement, organizational commitment, perceptions of fairness, task performance, and organizational citizenship behaviors (e.g., sharing information or helping colleagues with a task).
• Role conflict: This stressor occurs when employees have incompatible demands, priorities, or expectations. Role conflict can lead to burnout, psychological distress, counterproductive work behavior, and turnover intentions.
• Role overload: This stressor occurs when employees have more work than they can reasonably complete. It is the most strongly linked to negative emotions and physical symptoms. When employees have too many demands and too little recovery, they can experience irritability, anxiety, headaches, and other physical ailments.

"Because [the stressors are] not tied to a particular occupation or industry, they can arise in virtually any job, making them broadly relevant across employees, organizations, and work settings," Sawhney and McCord write.

3 ways to identify and address employee stress

According to Sawhney and McCord, the problem is not that leaders ignore stress, but they may interpret stress signals incorrectly or respond at the incorrect level. To ensure leaders can help employees more effectively, the authors recommend identifying the source of stress and intervening earlier and more precisely.

1. If employees are confused about their roles

If employees don't understand the expectations for their role, leaders should take responsibility for providing clarity.

Sawhney and McCord recommend making role clarity a part of everyday management. Before major initiatives begin, leaders should explain each person's responsibility, what the work is meant to accomplish, the most important priorities, and how employees should handle uncertainty. Leaders should also check in regularly with employees to gauge how they're feeling, what priorities they have, and what decisions may be slowing progress.

Clarity around roles and expectations also becomes particularly important during reorganizations, mergers, leadership transitions, and strategy shifts since employees are more likely to face uncertainty about their responsibilities during these times.

"Don't let high performance mask the consequences of competing demands," the authors write, adding that "these stressors must be addressed to prevent the attrition of top talent."

3. If employees have too much work

Although Sawhney and McCord's study found that overwork was positively associated with employee engagement, this engagement may "mask the substantial emotional and physical strain that overwork produces over time," they wrote.

Advice on time management will not help employees if they keep receiving too much work and become overloaded. Instead, leaders should focus on what work needs to continue, what can wait, and what should stop. They should also examine where employees have too much work with too little support.

Overall, "[t]he problem is not the presence of these stressors," Sawhney and McCord write. "The problem is when they become chronic and difficult for employees to resolve because they lack the authority, information, or resources they need."

"Well-being cannot be delegated entirely to wellness programs, HR initiatives, or individual resilience," the authors added. "It must be built into how work is designed and managed. Organizations that make progress will be those that treat clear expectations, competing demands, and workload as central leadership responsibilities."