How to combat ‘work intensification’

IF you're struggling to get something done because too many people are involved, getting bogged down by conflict in your workplace or buckling under the weight of too many tasks in one day, you’re probably experiencing “work intensification”.

- MELISSA SWIFT

This workplace trend is not spoken about enough, yet researchers in Europe have been looking at the phenomenon for many years. They pin it down to three things happening, often all at once. Firstly, workloads are simply too heavy — with too many tasks in too little time. Every job has a version of this. You might be invited to too many meetings or asked to pack too many warehouse pallets in an hour.

Secondly, work is too interdependent — meaning it takes too many people to get any given task done. When JPMorgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon famously complained about a single decision needing 14 committees for approval, interdependence was the issue.

Lastly, workplaces have become emotionally challenging.

Workplace impact

To better understand how this issue was affecting workplaces, in April 2025 consulting firm Anthrome Insight partnered with Patrick Hyland, an organisational psychologist. They surveyed 1 000 workers ranging from entry-level employees to C-Suite executives in five different industries.

The findings were striking. A quarter of respondents always or often felt overwhelmed, and half felt overwhelmed at least some of the time. More than half (62%) were experiencing task overload, while over a quarter were getting whacked by bureaucracy and a lack of priorities. Almost a third was dealing with angry coworkers, bosses and/or customers.

Damaging effects