As the saying goes, the only constant is change, and that leaves workers stretched thin.
Organizational change is nothing new, but since the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have experienced significant disruption, including hybrid work and return-to-office mandates, mass layoffs, restructuring and reassignment of responsibilities, and the introduction of AI.
“Everyone is experiencing change fatigue,” Lorraine “Ro” Stomski, Walmart’s chief people officer, told CNBC Make It at Forbes’ Future of Work Summit in New York City on Oct. 6. “The environment is changing so rapidly.”
Managers and employers need to think about “really helping their employees get through this,” she added.
What is change fatigue?
Change fatigue is a fatigued state that workers may experience after experiencing many changes at their employer. This can manifest as resistance to change, apathy, or resignation, and research shows it can predict increased tension and burnout, as well as decreased employee commitment and performance.
Many employees are hit with curveball after curveball with little time to adjust. In a Gallup poll of more than 22,000 U.S. workers released in December 2024, about 73% of employees said their organization had experienced some level of disruptive change within the past year. “The greater the disruption an employee has experienced, the more likely they are to feel burnt out today,” the report states.
“Change is stressful, especially when it’s not managed well,” said Peter Cappelli, a management professor and director of the Human Resources Center at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. “Any transition creates stress and requires energy from people, and doing it just leaves them exhausted.”
What people and organizations can do
Stomski said employers can take several steps to make change more manageable, including “giving workers agency” and “giving them tools.”
That could mean getting input on restructuring ahead of time. Cappelli added that it can also be helpful to have people apply for other jobs within the company if their current role is no longer available. “You should make sure to tell people what you are trying to do and that you want them to be a part of the process.”
Communicating clearly throughout the change, including being clear about why it’s happening and how it will affect your employees, can help reduce anxiety about it. When implementing new technology such as AI, training can help things go more smoothly.
“A lot of the resistance comes from people who feel like they’re going to fail in the new situation,” Cappelli says. If you can show them what it’s like and practice what to do with it, you’ll have a smoother transition.
As for your employees, you probably won’t have much influence in this matter, but you should focus on what you can control. You can also ask your direct manager for more answers and clarity to ease the transition, Cappelli says. However, organizations should anticipate that some employees may look for work elsewhere.
“Employees facing this kind of change won’t be surprised to find out that they have no story about where it’s going, no sense of ownership in the process, no control over it, and everyone ends up looking for another job,” Cappelli says.
