Betsy Williamson, Managing Director at Core-Asset Consulting, explores how sustained pressure is affecting finance, risk and compliance teams, and why burnout is increasingly shaping hiring decisions, retention and long-term capability.

Burnout in Financial Services: A Resourcing and Culture Challenge, Not Just a Wellbeing Issue

As the year draws to a close and organisations begin reflecting on what has been delivered — and at what cost — burnout across financial services has become harder to ignore.

Burnout is no longer simply a conversation about employee wellbeing. It is increasingly a business and risk issue, with direct implications for performance, retention, regulatory outcomes and long-term capability.

Across finance, risk, compliance and accounting functions, sustained pressure is showing up in tangible ways: rising attrition, disengagement, costly errors and widening skills gaps. For many teams, year-end is when the cumulative impact of these pressures becomes most visible.

For employers, the question is not whether burnout exists, but how to respond to it in a way that is realistic, sustainable and commercially sound.

What does burnout look like in financial services?

Burnout is typically described as a state of physical, mental or emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged workplace stress. In practice, within financial services, it often manifests as:

• Reduced engagement and motivation
• A declining sense of achievement
• Fatigue and cognitive overload
• Increased errors or risk aversion
• Withdrawal from collaboration and development opportunities

These effects are particularly pronounced in roles where accuracy, judgement and resilience are critical. When people are consistently operating at capacity, even small increases in pressure can have outsized consequences.

Early warning signs employers should not ignore

Burnout rarely appears suddenly. More often, it builds gradually and can be identified through subtle but consistent signals, including:

• A rise in rework, near-misses or minor errors
• Increasing short-term absence or last-minute leave
• Individuals disengaging from development or progression conversations
• Teams becoming reactive rather than planned in their delivery
• A spike in urgent or unplanned hiring requests
• Candidates referencing “culture concerns” without being able to clearly articulate why

Recognising these early indicators allows organisations to intervene before pressure becomes entrenched and more costly to resolve.

Why financial services is particularly exposed

Burnout exists across many industries, but financial services is among the most affected. There are several structural reasons for this.

Workload and resourcing pressure

Many organisations have slowed or frozen hiring in recent years, while regulatory deadlines, reporting cycles and transformation programmes have continued unchanged. This has left teams carrying heavier workloads for extended periods.

Mid-level talent shortages are especially acute. Without sufficient experienced professionals in the middle, senior staff are drawn into operational delivery, while junior employees can feel overwhelmed and under-supported. Over time, this imbalance creates strain throughout the organisation.

Reduced hiring can also contribute to “job hugging”, where individuals remain in roles they no longer find fulfilling due to perceived lack of opportunity elsewhere. This stagnation often leads to disengagement and, ultimately, burnout.

Regulatory and risk scrutiny

Financial services operates under constant and evolving regulatory oversight. Consumer Duty, operational resilience, financial crime controls and ESG reporting all demand precision, accountability and tight timelines.
Burnout becomes more likely when individuals feel personally responsible for managing risk without sufficient resource, clarity or support. Over time, sustained pressure erodes confidence and resilience.

Technology and transformation

Significant investment has been made across the sector in new systems and technologies, with the promise of long-term efficiency gains. However, many organisations are still in the transition phase.

System migrations, data preparation and skills gaps often increase workloads before efficiencies are realised. Finance teams in particular are frequently asked to “run and transform” simultaneously, intensifying pressure.

Hybrid working and blurred boundaries

Hybrid working has delivered flexibility, but it has also blurred boundaries. Meetings have multiplied, expectations around availability have increased, and working hours have often lengthened rather than shortened.

As organisations reassess their approach to flexibility and office attendance, there is a risk that pressure persists without the benefits that hybrid working initially promised.

The business and risk impact of burnout

For employers, the cost of burnout extends well beyond individual wellbeing.

• Attrition: Burnout is a significant driver of staff turnover. Once recruitment fees, training and lost productivity are considered, replacing specialised financial professionals can be extremely costly.
• Absenteeism: Stress, anxiety and depression remain leading causes of absence across the UK workforce.
• Presenteeism: Employees who remain in role but are disengaged or exhausted create a sustained drag on performance and morale.
• Risk exposure: Overstretched teams are more likely to miss issues, challenge less effectively and rely heavily on a small number of key individuals.

From a governance perspective, burnout increases the risk of control failures, loss of institutional knowledge and reduced oversight — particularly concerning in regulated environments.

There is also a longer-term concern. Burnout is disproportionately affecting early-career professionals, exacerbating existing skills gaps and threatening the future talent pipeline.

How burnout is influencing hiring behaviour

Burnout is increasingly shaping how both employers and candidates approach the market.
Employers are experiencing:

• Increased demand for interim and contract professionals to relieve pressure at known peak points
• More reactive hiring driven by attrition rather than growth
• Greater difficulty retaining experienced mid-level talent

Candidates, meanwhile, are:

• Asking more detailed questions about leadership style, workload and support structures
• Being more selective about culture and sustainability, not just progression
• Declining roles later in the hiring process due to cultural or workload concerns
• Considering interim or portfolio careers to regain control and flexibility

These shifts are particularly visible at moments of reflection — year-end, post-bonus periods and during forward planning cycles.

What can employers realistically do?

While not all drivers of burnout are within an employer’s control, there are practical steps organisations can take to reduce its impact.

It is important to recognise what doesn’t work. Treating burnout purely as an individual resilience issue, relying on one-off wellbeing initiatives, or assuming technology alone will solve capacity challenges rarely delivers lasting change.

More effective approaches include:

• Resourcing teams properly during peak periods
• Being clear about priorities and role design
• Removing low-value work
• Empowering middle management to set expectations and model sustainable behaviours
• Acknowledging pressure openly rather than ignoring it

Core-Asset Consulting’s perspective

At Core-Asset Consulting, we see the effects of burnout every day through our work with financial services clients and candidates. It influences hiring decisions, resourcing strategies and career choices in very real ways.

We believe that cultural fit is not about avoiding pressure, but about alignment, transparency and sustainability. Financial services will always include demanding roles and periods of intensity. The key is ensuring expectations are clear, teams are resourced appropriately, and individuals are matched to environments where they can perform and thrive over the long term.

By combining deep sector knowledge with an understanding of organisational culture, we support employers in building resilient teams and help professionals make informed, sustainable career decisions.

Looking ahead

As organisations look towards the year ahead, burnout is unlikely to disappear from financial services. However, those that take a thoughtful, strategic approach to resourcing, culture and leadership will be better placed to manage its impact.

In an increasingly competitive market, the ability to build sustainable teams is becoming a differentiator — not only for attracting and retaining talent, but for maintaining performance, managing risk and supporting long-term growth.