It’s easy to assume people quit because of pay. And sure, compensation matters. But in 2025, that’s not the full story.

Across industries, professionals are walking away from roles that offer solid salaries and even decent benefits. Why? Because the culture no longer fits.

According to a new 2025 report from MIT Sloan Management Review, toxic work culture remains the #1 predictor of employee attrition—ranking higher than pay, advancement opportunities, or flexibility. And yet, many employers still think throwing bonuses or remote options at the problem is enough.

Here’s the reality: People aren’t just leaving jobs. They’re leaving environments that make them feel unseen, unheard, or unwell.

Culture Fit Isn’t About Ping Pong and Pizza

For too long, workplace culture was packaged as perks: free snacks, branded hoodies, team-building retreats. But the post-pandemic workforce has a sharper lens. Culture today is about how people are treated when no one’s watching.

A healthy workplace culture includes:

• Psychological safety: People can speak honestly without fear of backlash.

• Respectful communication: Feedback is clear but kind.

• Boundaries: Employees aren’t praised for burnout.

• Inclusion: Everyone—not just the loudest or longest-tenured—has a seat at the table.

• Accountability: Managers walk the talk.

Without these pillars in place, even the best compensation packages feel empty.

What Professionals Are Saying in 2025

We reviewed several workforce trend studies and gathered recurring themes from employee feedback. Here’s what professionals say they actually want from their workplace culture:

“I want to feel like I belong, not like I have to perform to fit in.”
“I want a manager who mentors—not micromanages.”
“I want to grow here, not just grind here.”
“I want to feel like I matter, even when I’m not perfect.”

Translation: employees are looking for meaningful alignment, not just job stability.

When Good Culture Goes Bad (Quietly)

Most toxic workplaces don’t start that way. The shift is usually gradual and hard to name until it’s too late. It shows up as:

• Overworked teams that never push back

• Managers who confuse pressure with performance

• High performers who burn out and go quiet

• Diversity initiatives with no real follow-through

• “Open door” policies no one trusts

When these patterns go unaddressed, retention drops and team morale follows. But here’s what many leaders miss: toxicity isn’t always loud. Sometimes, it’s a culture of silence, dismissal, or neglect that quietly pushes people out.

Managers Set the Tone (Like It or Not)

No matter how well-crafted a company mission is, managers are the culture carriers. They’re the ones who model expectations, coach through conflict, and shape team dynamics.

A recent Gallup survey revealed that 70% of the variance in team engagement is directly linked to the manager’s behavior. That means culture isn’t created at company retreats—it’s reinforced (or damaged) in everyday interactions.

Leaders who want to build better culture must start by asking:

• Do I regularly check in with my team about more than deadlines?

• Do I give feedback in a way that builds, not breaks?

• Do I know how each person on my team defines growth?

Culture Audits Are Becoming Standard

In response to rising attrition, more organizations are conducting internal culture audits—not just engagement surveys, but deep listening sessions, exit interview reviews, and behavioral assessments across departments.

These audits help uncover:

• Gaps between leadership values and lived experiences

• Microaggressions or patterns of bias

• Over-dependence on high performers

• Hidden turnover risks

And the most progressive companies? They’re not waiting for exit interviews to learn the truth. They’re investing in stay interviews—conversations that uncover what’s keeping people in their seats and what might send them searching.

The New Standard: Culture by Design, Not Default

It’s not enough to hope a “good” culture will form. Today’s workforce expects intentional culture-building—ones that support emotional wellness, professional development, and inclusive leadership.

What this looks like in action:

• Training managers on emotional intelligence and DEI practices

• Embedding mental health support into everyday operations

• Redesigning performance reviews to reflect values, not just output

• Encouraging employees to give upward feedback without fear

Culture can’t be outsourced to HR. It’s a collective habit—built one meeting, one message, and one leader at a time.

Final Thought

The conversation around workplace culture isn’t fluffy. It’s foundational. In 2025, professionals aren’t afraid to leave behind shiny job titles in search of something deeper: a culture that respects their time, reflects their values, and recognizes their humanity.

Because for today’s workforce, how it feels to work there matters just as much as what the work pays.

When Andy Jassy succeeded Jeff Bezos as CEO of Amazon, in 2021, he stepped into one of the most scrutinized leadership roles in business. Yet under Jassy’s leadership, Amazon has not only sustained its momentum but accelerated. According to the company, revenues have grown by more than $230 billion during his four-year tenure, and it has made significant leaps in its delivery capabilities and use of AI.

Leading at Scale

In a wide-ranging conversation with HBR editor at large Adi Ignatius, Jassy reflects on what it takes to lead at scale. He discusses the importance of maintaining a customer-obsessed culture, even as the company grows and expands into new areas. Jassy also emphasizes the need for leaders to be willing to take risks and experiment with new ideas, in order to stay ahead of the competition.

Encouraging Risk-Taking

Jassy believes that encouraging risk-taking is essential for driving innovation and growth. He notes that Amazon’s culture of experimentation and willingness to take risks has allowed the company to make significant advances in areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. By giving employees the freedom to try new things and learn from their mistakes, Jassy aims to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the company.

Embracing AI

Jassy also discusses the importance of finding smart ways to embrace AI and other emerging technologies. He notes that Amazon has made significant investments in AI research and development, and is using machine learning algorithms to improve everything from customer service to supply chain management. By leveraging AI and other technologies, Jassy believes that Amazon can continue to drive growth and innovation, while also improving the customer experience.

Reinventing Corporate Culture

In addition to driving growth and innovation, Jassy is also focused on reinventing Amazon’s corporate culture. With more than a million employees, Amazon is one of the largest employers in the world, and Jassy recognizes the need to create a culture that is inclusive, diverse, and supportive of all employees. He notes that Amazon has made significant progress in areas such as diversity and inclusion, but acknowledges that there is still more work to be done.

Conclusion

Under Andy Jassy’s leadership, Amazon has continued to thrive and innovate. By emphasizing the importance of customer obsession, risk-taking, and innovation, Jassy has helped to drive growth and expansion at the company. As Amazon continues to evolve and grow, it will be interesting to see how Jassy’s leadership style and vision for the company shape its future.

FAQs

Q: What is Andy Jassy’s background and experience?
A: Andy Jassy is a veteran Amazon executive who previously led the company’s cloud computing division, Amazon Web Services.
Q: What are some of the key challenges facing Amazon under Jassy’s leadership?
A: Some of the key challenges facing Amazon include maintaining a customer-obsessed culture, driving innovation and growth, and navigating the complexities of a rapidly changing technological landscape.
Q: How is Amazon using AI and other emerging technologies?
A: Amazon is using AI and other emerging technologies to improve everything from customer service to supply chain management, and is making significant investments in AI research and development.
Q: What is Jassy’s vision for Amazon’s corporate culture?
A: Jassy is focused on creating a culture that is inclusive, diverse, and supportive of all employees, and has made significant progress in areas such as diversity and inclusion.

There was a time when burnout was treated as a personal issue—something employees needed to manage with a vacation, a meditation app, or better time management.

But in 2025, that perspective is shifting fast.

Companies are starting to recognize that burnout isn’t just an individual problem—it’s a systemic culture issue. And if it’s showing up in your workplace regularly, it’s not a fluke. It’s a red flag.

A Gallup survey earlier this year revealed that 58% of workers experience burnout at least sometimes, with nearly 1 in 4 saying they feel it “very often.” The data is clear: something in the way we work is broken—and it’s not just about workload.

Burnout Isn’t About “Too Much Work”—It’s About How Work Feels

It’s easy to assume burnout is simply the result of overwork. But research tells a more nuanced story. Employees report feeling burned out when they:

• Lack control over their work

• Feel unclear about expectations

• Don’t feel appreciated or recognized

• Are constantly navigating unclear priorities

• Work in environments that lack empathy or support

That’s not about hours. That’s about culture.

You can work 60 hours a week on a passion project and feel energized. Or work 35 hours in a toxic culture and feel completely depleted.

Signs Your Culture Is Fueling Burnout

If your organization is starting to feel the ripple effects of stress and disengagement, look beyond the surface. Here are five signs burnout may be woven into the culture:

1. “Always on” expectations
Team members feel pressure to respond instantly—even outside work hours. There’s no real boundary between work and life.

2. Recognition is rare or performative
Hard work is expected, not acknowledged. Celebrations are surface-level, and appreciation often comes only during performance review season.

3. Silence around mental health
No one talks openly about stress, therapy, or taking mental health days. Doing so might be seen as a sign of weakness.

4. High output, low support
Leaders demand excellence but don’t invest in training, feedback, or staffing. People are running on empty with no backup.

5. Turnover is brushed off
When people leave due to burnout or toxicity, leadership calls it “normal attrition” instead of addressing the real cause.

If any of these sound familiar, your team may be normalizing burnout—and normalizing it makes it harder to solve.

Culture Recovery Starts With Conversations

So how do you shift the culture?

It doesn’t begin with policy. It begins with honest dialogue—and the willingness to name what’s not working. Start by asking questions like:

• What would a healthy workday look like here?

• Where do we feel stretched too thin?

• Are we celebrating rest and recovery the way we celebrate hustle?

• What signals do we send about urgency, availability, and boundaries?

And most importantly—are leaders modeling what they want to see?

When leaders take time off, speak transparently about capacity, or decline back-to-back meetings, it gives others permission to do the same.

Rethinking Productivity in a Burnout Era

In a culture built on urgency, rest can look like resistance. But what if real productivity comes not from doing more—but from being more focused, more supported, and more human?

More companies are experimenting with:

• No-meeting Fridays

• Mental health stipends

• Workload forecasting to prevent crunch periods

• Building “recovery time” into project cycles

• Encouraging PTO with no guilt or pressure

These aren’t perks—they’re strategies for building sustainable teams.

The Role of Managers (and What Employees Can Do)

Managers are the culture carriers. They set the tone for how performance, balance, and support are defined.

For managers:
Ask how your team is doing—not just what they’re doing. Make room for check-ins that don’t revolve around deadlines. Be transparent about your own limits to model balance.

For employees:
Burnout doesn’t mean you’re weak—it means your environment needs adjustment. Advocate for yourself early, not when you’re already overwhelmed. Ask for clarity. Suggest solutions. And if you’re in a culture that punishes rest or honesty, it may be time to reassess your fit.

What Happens When Culture Shifts?

Organizations that take burnout seriously aren’t just protecting employee health—they’re investing in long-term performance.

When employees feel seen, supported, and allowed to be whole people—not just output machines—they don’t just stay longer. They create better, collaborate better, and lead better.

And in a world where burnout is everywhere, building a culture of care isn’t just nice—it’s a competitive advantage.

Because the most successful teams of tomorrow won’t be the ones that grind the hardest. They’ll be the ones that know how to pause, breathe, and still rise.