World Mental Health Day, a new Workplace Emotional Safety Report from career platform Zety reveals that despite growing awareness, many employees still feel unable to express emotional distress or vulnerability at work.
The findings highlight how “corporate masking” i.e. the habit of concealing stress, frustration, or sadness to appear professional - remains a widespread reality.
Key findings:
• Nearly 1 in 3 workers have cried at work due to stress or overwhelm.
• 67% admit to hiding emotions to maintain a professional image.
• 44% feel judged when they show signs of stress or exhaustion.
• 1 in 4 wouldn’t feel safe telling their manager if they were struggling.
• Only 32% describe their workplace as emotionally or psychologically safe.
According to Dr. Jasmine Escalera, Career Expert at Zety:
“Even as we talk more about mental health, many people still wear a mask to work every day. Emotional authenticity is far too often treated as a weakness, when in reality, it’s one of the strongest foundations for well-being and trust.”
Emotional Strain and Burnout
Workplace pressures are fuelling unsustainable levels of stress:
1 in 4 feel emotionally drained multiple times a week, and 1 in 10 say they feel this way daily.
Key causes include conflict with managers or colleagues (29%), lack of recognition (28%), and toxic culture (23%).
Nearly half (44%) say they feel judged when showing stress or emotion.
Barriers to Speaking Up
Employees often silence themselves after being invalidated:
1 in 3 have been told to “calm down” or “toughen up.”
21% say colleagues dismiss their emotions, while 14% say peers are unaware altogether.
36% have reported a false reason when taking a mental health day, and 7% avoid mental health leave entirely.
The State of Psychological Safety
The data shows most employees work under restraint:
• Only 32% rate their workplace’s psychological safety as high.
• 58% say it’s moderate, while 10% rate it low.
• 1 in 3 feel uncomfortable expressing negative emotions at all.
The data suggests that while companies may acknowledge mental health in policy, few have addressed the deeper issue of emotional culture - how employees actually feel about expressing themselves.
What This Means for Employers
The report highlights a clear gap between employee needs and organizational support. Workers lean more on peers, friends, and family than on managers, HR, or counsellors. This signals that traditional support systems aren’t trusted or accessible.
Dr. Escalera adds:
“When workers hide their emotions, organisations lose something critical - human connection. Building cultures where people can show up honestly goes beyond being a perk, it’s a necessity for sustainable performance, and above-all worker wellbeing”
The report aligns with global trends showing high rates of workplace stress, burnout, and emotional fatigue - issues that continue to drive turnover and disengagement worldwide.
Zety’s findings call for employers to go beyond awareness campaigns and foster genuine psychological safety, where mental health and emotional expression are seen as part of healthy, high-performing teams.
To view the full report with more information, please visit here.
Methodology
The findings presented are based on a nationally representative survey conducted by Zety UK using Pollfish on July 30, 2025. The survey collected responses from 1,023 U.S. workers, examining their experiences and perceptions related to emotional safety in the workplace, including stressors, burnout, barriers to expressing feelings, coping strategies, and overall psychological safety.
Respondents answered different types of questions, including yes/no, scale-based questions where they indicated their level of agreement with statements, and multiple-choice where they could select from a list of provided options. The sample consisted of 50% female and 50% male respondents, with 15% Gen Z, 33% Millennials, 35% Gen X, and 17% Baby Boomers.
