‘Unheard of’: Gen Z embrace taking mental health days from work

One in four young Australians are being plagued by a problem that costs Australian workplaces billions of dollars every year.

One in four young Australians are being plagued by a problem that is “actively hurting” Australian workplaces’ bottom line, costing them $10.9 billion every year.

Research by News Corp’s Growth Distillery with Medibank found that, of the 34 per cent of Australians currently experiencing burnout, 45 per cent were Gen Z and 41 per cent Millennials – citing a lack of downtime and saying they feel overburdened daily due to career demands, family responsibilities, and social expectations.

The most widely-used burnout measure, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), defines it by three criteria: exhaustion; loss of empathy towards service recipients or cynicism directed towards one’s job (known as depersonalisation); and reduced professional accomplishment.

Australia is in the grips of a mental health crisis, and people are struggling to know who to turn to, especially our younger generations. Can We Talk? is a News Corp awareness campaign, in partnership with Medibank, equipping Aussies with the skills needed to have the most important conversation of their life.

“It sounds like, ‘I’m so exhausted’, ‘I just don’t care anymore’, ‘What I am doing is making no difference’, and ‘What’s the point?’,” clinical psychologist Dr Emily Musgrove said.

“People who are experiencing burnout will often report feeling irritable, low in mood, lacking in motivation, and tend to view their work through a lens of cynicism.

“People can begin to doubt their capacity to make a meaningful contribution in their role and will describe feeling disengaged and disconnected.

“Anecdotally, one of the hallmarks of burnout is daydreaming about leaving, running away, or changing professions altogether.”

MORE: 6 ways to manage burnout

Founder of Gen Z mental health charity ALLKND, Milly Bannister. Picture: Supplied

MORE: How to beat burnout while working from home

These are feelings Milly Bannister, the award-winning founder of Gen Z mental health charity, ALLKND, has experienced first-hand.

“Running (ALLKND), I’ve had moments where the mission I care so deeply about started feeling distant – like I was just pushing through, rather than leading with purpose,” Ms Bannister said.

“That’s a massive red flag.”

It is a “major oversimplification”, Ms Bannister argued, to frame burnout as nothing more than being “too tired from working too much”.

“It’s not just a physical state … it’s an identity crisis. When work starts stripping away your sense of self, your values, and your ability to connect with others, that’s when real damage is done,” she said.

To her, burnout isn’t about workload. Instead, “it’s about misalignment – when the work that once energised you starts depleting you”.

“The fix isn’t just ‘rest’,” Ms Bannister said. “It’s recalibrating why you do what you do and setting boundaries to ensure you can fulfil your ‘why’ without it costing you your mental health.”

‘When work starts stripping away your sense of self, your values, and your ability to connect with others, that’s when real damage is done.’ Picture: iStock

Overlooking your mental health and wellbeing, Dr Musgrove said, leaves you “highly vulnerable” to a host of negative outcomes.

“Chronic stress increases the likelihood of experiencing physical illness, whether that is more frequent colds and flu, to very significant health complications,” she explained.

“(It also) further increases the likelihood of experiencing impaired daily functioning and puts people at risk of experiencing a range of psychological disorders.”

From an organisational point of view, ignoring employees’ mental health and wellbeing comes at a potentially even heftier price. Dr Musgrove cited lower productivity, less staff engagement, decreased job satisfaction and company loyalty, increased absenteeism and higher staff turnover as some of the wide-ranging costs of staff burnout.

As for the financial impact itself, untreated mental health conditions cost Australian businesses a staggering $10.9 billion per year. Of that, presenteeism – being physically at work but mentally checked out – accounts for an alarming $6.1 billion in lost productivity.

“Here’s the reality: burnt-out workers don’t just quit, they disengage,” Ms Bannister said.

“Employers who ignore mental health aren’t just failing their staff, they’re actively hurting their bottom line.”

‘Running (ALLKND), I’ve had moments where the mission I care so deeply about started feeling distant – like I was just pushing through, rather than leading with purpose.’

Unlike generations past, though, Gen Z is actively taking steps to avoid falling into the burnout trap.

“We don’t see work-life balance as ‘equal hours of work and play’ – that’s outdated and sets us up to fail,” Ms Bannister said.

“Balance is dynamic. Some weeks you might be all in, but the next, you need more time to reset. The real goal is emotional sustainability – ensuring that the way we work today doesn’t compromise our ability to work (or live) tomorrow.

“From the conversations we have with young people, it becomes clear that the problem isn’t that Gen Z doesn’t want to work hard; it’s that we know pushing past our limits today can have serious consequences down the track.”

A significant 62 per cent of Australians said they feel comfortable taking a mental health day from work – indicating a shift towards recognising and addressing their needs more openly.

Past studies have found Gen Z workers are nearly twice as likely to call in sick than Baby Boomers, and take an average of 14.3 sick days per year to Baby Boomers’ 8.9.

As we learn more about the impacts of poor mental health on job performance and job satisfaction, Dr Musgrove said, people may be “less likely to feel a sense of guilt for caring for themselves first, knowing that this ultimately increases job engagement, productivity and longevity”.

“My impression is that the message that you ‘cannot pour from an empty cup’ resonates particularly strongly with Gen Zers,” she said.

Ms Bannister agreed. “The real shift here isn’t just that we take these days, it’s that we don’t feel we have to justify them with a physical illness,” she said.

“The science is clear: the body doesn’t distinguish between mental and physical health, so why should workplaces?”

More than half of those who find the topic of mental health personally important said it is critical that large corporations actively engage when it comes to issues relating to healthcare. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard

It’s now on workplaces to meet workers where they are. Of Australians who find the topic of mental health personally important, 54 per cent said it is critical that large corporations actively engage when it comes to issues relating to healthcare – yet only 27 per cent think large corporations are currently doing this well.

“Open communication and discussion is an integral part of creating supportive and psychologically safe working environments,” Dr Musgrove said, an attitude that must be demonstrated “from the top down”.

Promoting access to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) and counselling services “demonstrates commitment to employee wellbeing”, she said.

Both Dr Musgrove and Ms Bannister are optimistic employers will continue to evolve when it comes to supporting and prioritising mental health in the workplace.

“We will because we have to. The cost of not adapting is too high,” Ms Bannister said.

“Gen Z isn’t just shifting the conversation, we’re changing the way work functions. Mental health isn’t a ‘perk’, it’s foundational to sustainable careers.

“And whether workplaces like it or not, we’re bringing that reality with us into every industry.”