The 2025 results reveal a significant shift in how Australian employees perceive and engage with their work environments and roles. Job demands have become the leading workplace stressor, while lack of recognition has fallen out of the top three concerns. Notably, work-life balance remains the second most significant challenge, reinforcing the need for Australian workplaces to provide the right resources and systems to support employees. Ensuring a well-managed workload and fostering a sense of competence and psychological safety will be critical in maintaining a healthy and productive workforce. This study highlights the speed at which employee needs and concerns can evolve, providing valuable insights into the changing landscape of workplace stressors. To keep pace, business leaders must proactively assess and refine their wellbeing and safety strategies—ensuring they address current workforce challenges. A responsive, employee-centric approach will be key to sustaining engagement, resilience, and high performance.

The challenge of juggling conflicting tasks while maintaining a healthy work-life balance is a growing concern across Belgian workplaces, often compounded by strained relationships with managers. These pressures can lead to stress, disengagement, and fractured trust in the workplace. When employees feel overwhelmed or unsupported, productivity and innovation suffer. To foster a resilient and high-performing workforce, leaders must recognize these issues and take proactive steps to create a work environment that values clarity, balance, and constructive rather than reproachful leadership. By doing so, organizations can turn these challenges into opportunities—transforming conflict into collaboration, promoting balance over burnout, and driving clarity instead of confusion.

Work-life balance, job performance, and manager relationships remain key workplace concerns, highlighting the need for organizations to prioritize psychological safety. While 54% of Canadian employees feel they have social and psychological support at work, the gap between awareness and action persists—only 23% of HR professionals have a formal strategy to act on employee feedback. Investing in mental health not only improves employee well-being but also strengthens engagement, retention, and company performance. To drive meaningful change, managers must continue developing skills to foster trust, organizations must measure their impact, and workplaces must enhance mental health literacy, ensuring a healthier, more resilient workforce.

Chinese work values are centered on collectivism and building a network/community, hard work, endurance, and honesty (Lu, Kao, Siu & Lu, 2011). Therefore, we observe lower rates of workplace issues in China relating to workplace conflicts as the social support systems and efforts to cooperate as a team tend to be stronger than the global average. However, we do see a higher rate of anxiety and stress that is related to wanting to perform at highly productive, competitive, and competent levels. This then relates to perceived discrepancies between the effort they invest in their work versus the compensation, reward and recognition received.

According to WPO’s findings, workers across Costa Rica are caught in the tension of wanting to perform their best, but without clear guidance on how their roles fit into the bigger picture. It’s hard to feel truly invested when you don’t fully understand the company’s mission or how your work drives it forward. Combine that with the ever-present challenge of balancing personal life with work demands, and it’s no wonder employees feel overwhelmed. When employees feel like their role matters, their work is valued, and they have time to recharge, they bring a renewed sense of purpose and energy that drives lasting impact.

Psychological safety is key in today's world to keep the workforce engaged, productive, and innovative in a constantly changing environment. In France, we have identified that lack of professional development, lack of recognition, and job performance are driving psychological unsafety and disengagement. It is crucial for leaders to understand these causes and their consequences on organizations' performance and innovation, and how to turn them into success-driving factors. By addressing these issues, organizations can create a more supportive and empowering work environment that fosters growth, creativity, and overall success.

For employees across Germany, the pressure to perform is palpable, yet many often feel torn between the demands of their jobs and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. This tension can be exacerbated when roles and expectations aren’t clearly defined within the company’s mission. To bridge this gap, businesses need to invest in helping employees see the connection between their efforts and the company’s success, while also fostering a culture that supports wellbeing and work-life harmony.

The disconnect between employees and their managers, a lack of career development opportunities, and the uncertainty about how their roles align with the company’s mission are widespread concerns facing India's workforce. When employees lack clear career prospects or a sense of connection to the company’s goals, they often struggle to see how they’re making a meaningful contribution. With a lot of global companies sending routine back-office tasks to India, employees need to intentionally focus on finding meaning. This struggle to find meaning and the increasing uncertainty in the workplace not only affects their motivation but also leads to a decline in job performance and overall satisfaction. When companies nurture supportive leaders, offer clear opportunities for personal and professional growth, and ensure that employees understand how their roles fit into the company's overarching mission, they foster a sense of purpose, boost confidence, and drive both individual and collective success.

Workers in Indonesia are facing increasing difficulties meeting their daily work demands, all while shouldering heightened pressure to perform. Such relentless pressure coupled with the lack of clarity around daily responsibilities understandably makes it harder for employees to manage their time effectively, leaving them with less room to recharge and focus on personal wellbeing. As a result, achieving a healthy work-life balance becomes an even greater challenge. Not only is this harmful to employees' health and wellbeing—it’s also detrimental to employers, sowing disengagement and dissatisfaction. To rectify this, organizations need to streamline task management, set clear expectations for performance, and establish supportive structures that help employees balance their work and personal lives. When these solutions are implemented, both employees and employers can thrive—leading to higher engagement, better performance, and long-term organizational success.

Our recent study on psychological safety in Irish workplaces has identified key challenges affecting employee engagement and overall wellbeing. Many employees feel undervalued due to a lack of recognition for their contributions, while limited autonomy in their roles diminishes their sense of ownership and motivation. Additionally, the struggle to maintain a healthy work-life balance is becoming increasingly difficult, with many feeling overwhelmed by workplace demands. These findings underscore the need for organisations to prioritise psychological safety in the workplace. This means actively recognising employees’ efforts, empowering them with greater autonomy, and fostering a culture that supports the whole individual. When employees feel valued—not just safe but encouraged to share their ideas—organisations benefit from stronger engagement, higher performance, and greater innovation.

Companies in Italy are grappling with issues that strike at the heart of organizational culture: a lack of development opportunities, ethical dilemmas, and unclear objectives. Without a clear understanding of how they might progress or what they’re working toward, employees can easily feel disconnected from their work. When ethical concerns compound that sense of doubt, it becomes even harder for organizations to keep people feeling engaged. To that end, leaders must prioritize transparency, invest in employees’ personal and professional development, and set clear, achievable goals for their teams. By cultivating a culture rooted in honesty, transparency, compassion, and understanding, trust may be restored, helping workers and their employers work together to achieve their goals.

Workers across Japan are up against considerable obstacles hindering their performance. Excessive workloads—aggravated by suboptimal working conditions—are placing an enormous strain on employees, no doubt impairing their ability to stay on top of tasks, effectively manage stress, and maintain the motivation and energy needed to consistently perform. Such factors are inevitably pushing employees to their limits—affecting not just their output but their overall health and wellbeing. Organizations must rise to the occasion and address these problems head-on with better workload management, improved working conditions, and realistic performance goals to create a more resilient, engaged, and successful workforce.

Our findings from Mexico show that employees are facing a triple threat of concerns impacting both their performance and overall wellbeing. First, there’s a widespread lack of clarity around responsibilities and company objectives. When employees don’t know what’s expected of them or how their work contributes to the larger mission, it becomes difficult for them to succeed. In addition, the challenge of maintaining a healthy work-life balance continues to intensify, with many employees likely feeling overwhelmed by constantly evolving expectations. Conflicts with managers are only compounding these issues, fueling distrust, dissatisfaction, and disengagement that is likely contributing to employees’ uncertainty regarding their roles and difficulty attaining a balanced life. To overcome these concerns, organizations must strengthen their commitment to transparency, psychological safety, and wellbeing. When employees and their managers can communicate openly and honestly about both personal and professional concerns, the result is a more trusting, engaged, and high-performing workforce.

One of the main challenges facing Portugal’s workforce is that of limited autonomy—stifling creativity, hindering motivation, and diminishing employees’ sense of belonging at work. Compounded by the struggle to achieve a healthy work-life balance, many are understandably finding it hard to maintain a strong performance in a role they neither feel connected to nor appreciated for. Turning this around requires organizations to give employees more decision-making power and ownership over their tasks while promoting a better work-life balance, creating an environment where individuals can thrive and deliver their best work.

In this study, it is observed that in Singapore, bullying and interpersonal conflict are explicitly identified as the primary contributing factors. Key issues include heavy workloads, unrealistic expectations, and a toxic work environment, along with common challenges of bullying and professional isolation. To combat these challenges, organizations could foster a work-life balance by offering flexible arrangements and actively responding to employee feedback through regular check-ins. It would be beneficial to provide training for managers in supportive leadership and conflict resolution. Additionally, nurturing an inclusive culture that values well-being and maintaining clear communication channels will help build trust. By embracing these strategies, organizations can enhance collaboration and empower employees, ultimately improving overall well-being in the workplace.

The UAE’s dynamic and fast-evolving work environment brings opportunities for growth but also presents challenges such as workplace stress, the need for greater recognition, ethical clarity, and strong managerial relationships. Employees thrive in environments where their contributions are valued, workplace ethics are well-communicated, and managers foster open, supportive dialogue. Addressing these concerns through clear leadership, structured support, and recognition programs can enhance employee well-being, strengthen trust, and cultivate a culture of collaboration and engagement.

Employees in the UK are increasingly struggling with the balance between their work and personal lives, a challenge that is further exacerbated by unclear objectives and the pressure to maintain high job performance. When expectations aren’t clearly communicated, leaving employees uncertain about their role in the bigger picture, motivation and productivity inevitably suffer. The consequences extend beyond disengagement and burnout, leading to a decline in both individual and organizational success. To reverse this trend, companies must prioritize clear communication, set achievable goals, and create a supportive environment that encourages work-life balance. By offering employees the clarity and resources they need to succeed, organizations can tap into employees’ full potential, driving innovation and lasting success.

Acknowledging the impact of workplace trauma and fostering a culture where employees feel seen, supported, and psychologically safe is essential for organizations committed to long-term success. Workplace trauma often stems from toxic dynamics and a lack of psychological safety, leaving employees disengaged, anxious, and emotionally drained. It is no surprise that unresolved conflicts with managers not only disrupt performance but also fracture trust, creating invisible barriers between employees and organizational goals. Our research highlights the importance of equipping leaders with the skills to turn conflict into collaboration, fostering an environment where challenges are addressed with empathy and respect. Likewise, work-life balance should not be treated as a mere perk but as a strategic demonstration of employees' fundamental worth—an essential element in showing support for their well-being, fostering trust, and maintaining a sustainable, engaged, and innovative workforce. By prioritizing these elements, organizations cultivate a resilient workforce and a thriving workplace culture.