Workload is one factor, but workplace stress can also come from poor communication, difficult relationships, unclear roles, perceived unfairness, unaddressed underperformance and a lack of support from managers or the organisation.
In the space of three weeks, I had conversations with seven people I know well - different ages, different parts of Ireland, and most of them very senior. What struck me was that they were not stressed simply by the volume of their work.
In some cases the stress was related to their manager. In others, it was colleagues - and in one, someone reporting to them. One was on stress leave. One had already quit.
Her employer now has to recruit, rehire and retrain. For the others, engagement had taken the hit. They were still showing up and delivering, but something had changed.
Workplace stress isn't only about workload
The themes will be familiar to anyone who has worked anywhere. Office politics. The sense that some colleagues are coasting while others carry the load. A feeling that somebody else is getting privileges that you are not.
In one case, what felt like unfair treatment came down to a decision that simply had not been explained.
I am conscious that in each of these conversations, I was hearing only one side of the story. But in a way, that is the point.
Perception drives a great deal of stress. An unexplained decision can read as unfairness. Unaddressed underperformance can read as "nobody is paying attention." It can very quickly become: "Why should I keep pushing myself if this isn't fair?"
Whether or not the perception is completely accurate, the stress is real, the disengagement is real, and the energy loss - to the person and to the business - is real.
Workload matters. But sometimes the biggest drain is what is happening around the work.
What good management can change
In those same weeks, one person told me a very different story.
He spoke with real warmth about his manager. When his mother was seriously ill, they supported him without hesitation - with flexibility, understanding and kindness.
What stayed with him was that somebody showed they cared. He felt it. Now he cares, and his mind and heart are in the business.
One moment, handled well, and the organisation gained a loyal and engaged employee. It cost relatively little financially. But it was worth a great deal to him.
That contrast matters. When people feel cared for and supported, they are far more likely to care about the business and the people around them. The strongest workplaces do not choose between support and performance.
The best work environments get both sides right: high support and high challenge.
Workplace stress and engagement in Ireland
First, a word on engagement, because the term is often used loosely. Engagement is not simply job satisfaction or happiness.
It is the involvement and enthusiasm someone brings to their work: caring about the outcome, feeling connected to the purpose and the people, and giving the extra effort that no one can demand or reasonably expect.
Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2026 report, using data collected during 2025, found that just 9% of employees in Ireland were engaged at work. That compares with 12% across Europe and 20% globally.
The same Ireland data found that 42% of employees experienced stress a lot of the previous day.
Set that against what is possible. Gallup reports engagement levels of around 70% in best-practice organisations and has repeatedly found that managers have a substantial influence on engagement within their teams.
The gap is important because this is not simply about whether people are happy at work. It affects how much energy, attention and commitment people bring to what they do.
Three common sources of workplace stress
When I look at the conversations I have been having, much of the stress around work repeatedly traces back to three areas: communication, systems, and flexibility and care.
Communication
Perceived unfairness or lack of care is often an unexplained decision or a conversation that was avoided but should have happened. People can live with a "no" if they understand why and feel that they have been heard.
Systems
Unclear roles, uneven workloads and unaddressed underperformance manufacture resentment - and often the highest performers absorb the cost. The reward for being good at your job should not simply be more work.
Flexibility - and care
The moments that matter most are rarely in the employee handbook: a sick parent, a struggling child, a health scare. How an organisation responds in those moments can define the culture more clearly than any values statement on the wall.
How leaders and organisations can reduce workplace stress
Not every source of pressure can be removed. The aim is to reduce the unnecessary friction and unhealthy stress that organisations can actually do something about.
If something at work is eating at you, check the story you are telling yourself. Is there a fact you might be missing? If possible, have the conversation rather than allowing resentment to build.
Speak to people and listen. Explain decisions where appropriate. Address performance issues early and privately. And check the balance: challenge without support burns people out and causes frustration; support without challenge lets people drift.
Treat the moments that matter - illness, bereavement, family crisis, and the everyday human interactions people remember - with care. Look at the real cost of losing someone who did not feel supported: recruitment, retraining, lost knowledge and the effect on the people who remain.
Work alone is rarely the whole story. Poor communication, friction, lack of support, perceived unfairness and systems that make working harder than it needs to be can drain people just as surely. These things are shaped by leadership and culture - which means they can also be changed.