Forget burnout. ‘Rust-out’ could be your next workplace problem

“Maybe they’re appearing bored, experiencing chronic boredom, not feeling stimulated intellectually,” Verbin said. “They’re not taking as much initiative, not volunteering for projects or asking for more tasks. They’re just kind of checked out, feeling disconnected from purpose. You can see it. They’re going through the motions.”

That overlap with burnout is what makes rust-out hard to catch, since fatigue and low job satisfaction show up in both. The warning signs HR teams are trained to recognize in burnout often point to the opposite problem, too much being asked of someone rather than too little.

Burnout, Verbin said, comes from chronic workplace stress that isn’t being managed well, driven by excessive demands and insufficient resources.

“It’s this constant pressure of go, go, go, with no time to rest or rejuvenate,” she said. “It’s almost ironic. They share similar symptoms, but they’re opposite. One is being underutilized, and the other is being overutilized without enough resources.”

AI’s role in the problem

Verbin pointed to artificial intelligence as one factor accelerating rust-out, particularly for some employees whose most engaging responsibilities might now be handled by a machine.