Is it really just workload?

Teachers are leaving the profession in record numbers, with workload often cited as the cause.

But research on burnout suggests that workload is rarely the whole story. When someone says they’re overloaded, it is often the most visible part of a deeper set of mismatches between people and their work. Workload is the part we see. But beneath it, other factors shape whether work feels sustainable — or slowly becomes too much.

For example:

• When people have little control over how, when, or where their work is done, even manageable tasks can begin to feel heavy.

• When effort is not matched by recognition, reward, or opportunity, the same workload can feel depleting rather than meaningful.

• When community is fractured — when support, trust, or respect are missing — work becomes something carried alone.

• When fairness is in question, even a reasonable load can feel unjust.

• And when there is a gap between personal values and organisational priorities, people can find themselves under pressure to work in ways that don’t sit well over time.

  
  

These mismatches don’t always appear clearly. They show up indirectly — as exhaustion, frustration, disengagement, or a sense that something isn’t quite right. So when we respond to burnout by focusing only on reducing workload, we may miss the conditions that are actually driving it. Sustainable change comes not just from doing less, but from repairing the fit between people and their work.

That might involve:

• increasing autonomy and involvement in decisions

• recognising contribution in ways that feel meaningful

• strengthening team connection and support

• addressing inequities in how work and opportunity are distributed

• creating space for values to be expressed in how work is done

  
  

These are not quick fixes.

But they shift the question from “How do we get people to cope with this workload?”

to “What is it about this work, in this system, that is becoming unsustainable?”

And that is often where more lasting change begins.