There was a discussion online recently about burnout and who should foot the bill for it. The comments were, as you’d expect, a mix of exhausted workers comparing war stories and the occasional person who still genuinely believes that “reasonable overtime” is a reasonable concept.

One comment stuck with me. Someone pointed out that if you strip the word “burnout” away and describe it plainly, what you’re often talking about is an employer causing lasting physical and psychological harm through negligence or cost-cutting. Put it that way and the question of responsibility becomes a lot less murky. We already have a principle for this in most shops: if you break it, you pay for it. Apparently that principle dissolves the moment the thing being broken is a person.

The job market is absolutely cooked right now, and I’ve been watching this play out in real time through various online discussions where people are sharing their employment horror stories. What started as one person’s cautionary tale about quitting their finance job due to burnout has turned into a sobering collection of experiences that really highlights just how tough things are out there.

The original poster’s story is unfortunately becoming all too familiar - nine months of rejections after leaving a finance role, being told they’re “overqualified” for positions they desperately want, or “too expensive” for roles they’d happily take at reduced pay. It’s a catch-22 situation that would drive anyone to distraction. You’re damned if you’re overqualified, and you’re certainly damned if you’re underqualified.