You Are Getting The Work Done, But At What Cost? The Hidden Toll Of Being ‘Always Available’

Last Updated:October 09, 2026, 16:39 IST

Employees may appear committed while struggling with stress, exhaustion and the fear of asking for a break. Being busy doesn’t always mean being productive

Employees who meet deadlines and respond to messages late at night may appear committed, but their performance can mask mounting stress, exhaustion and the fear of admitting they need a break.

“There are times when you are already mentally exhausted but still feel the need to take on more work because you do not want to appear incapable, uncooperative or less committed than your colleagues,” said Shanaya Malhotra, a 33-year-old IT professional from Noida.

In a work culture that rewards packed calendars, long hours and constant availability, being busy is often mistaken for being productive, and productivity for success. Employees who meet deadlines and respond to messages late at night may appear committed, but their performance can mask mounting stress, exhaustion and the fear of admitting they need a break.

“Being ‘always available’ for work doesn’t necessarily improve your productivity; rather, it often harms it,” said 26-year-old Raima Agarwal, who works at start-up in Bengaluru. “When you are constantly swamped with work, you don’t get time for yourself. This drains your energy and makes you feel worn out over time.”

This is the productivity-mental health paradox concerning many employees across India and the world.

What The Workplace Data Reveal

A Naukri Pulse 2025 survey of 19,650 jobseekers across 80 industries in India found that nearly three in four professionals were hesitant to disclose mental health as the reason for taking time off. While 45% said they would mark it as general sick leave, 19% would avoid taking leave altogether. Only 28% were comfortable explicitly identifying mental health as the reason.

The reluctance was not simply about privacy. Around 31% feared being perceived as incapable, 27% worried about colleagues’ judgement and 21% feared that disclosing their struggles could affect career growth.

The findings reveal a workplace contradiction where employees may feel compelled to protect their professional image even when they need time to recover. Taking leave becomes a calculation about reputation rather than a straightforward decision about well-being.

“There’s a certain stigma around mental health. It is because of this mentality that employees are often not comfortable sharing their concerns with co-workers. There can be a bunch of factors, such as the fear of being judged or losing career opportunities because others may not consider you fit for the job, said Agarwal.

Malhotra shared similar views. She said people may “worry” that they will be overlooked for promotions, excluded from important assignments or seen as someone who cannot be relied upon. “There is also the fear that being honest about your mental health could change how your manager or colleagues perceive you.” “Many workplaces have normalised being overworked,” she stressed.

India’s engagement numbers offer another reason to look beyond attendance and output. The 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found that 23% of Indian employees were engaged at work in 2025, down from 30% in 2024. Meanwhile, 59% were classified as not engaged and 18% as actively disengaged.

Engagement is not a clinical measure of mental health, and these figures do not mean that the remaining employees are unwell. They do, however, raise questions about how connected people feel to their work and workplaces.

A separate study, ‘State of Mind: The Startup Ecosystem, found that 47.5% of 823 surveyed founders, employees, investors and ecosystem supporters scored below its low-wellbeing threshold. Employees reported the weakest outcomes: 54.3% fell below the threshold, compared with 42.9% of founders.

The study also found a striking association between psychological safety and well-being. Among respondents who did not feel safe speaking up about workplace struggles, 88.3% recorded low wellbeing. The corresponding figure among those who felt safe was 26.7%. The study cautioned that this association does not establish that one factor directly causes the other.

Why Employees Choose Silence Over Support

The fear of being labelled incapable can make employees hide problems until they become harder to manage. In competitive workplaces, admitting that a workload is unmanageable may feel like confessing to a lack of ambition or ability. Younger professionals may be especially guarded: the Naukri survey found that only around a quarter of freshers and early career professionals were comfortable explicitly identifying mental health as the reason for leave.

“Some employees may also feel that speaking up will not change anything, especially if they have seen others raise concerns without any meaningful action. And for people who have spent years building a reputation for being dependable, saying no or admitting they are overwhelmed can feel like letting people down. Sometimes, staying silent becomes a way of protecting the professional image you have worked hard to build,” said Malhotra.

Managers can unintentionally reinforce this silence when they reward constant availability, treat leave as a lack of commitment or expect employees to respond outside working hours. Micromanagement and lack of recognition can add to the pressure.

In the Naukri survey, poor work-life balance was the most frequently cited workplace factor affecting mental well-being, at 39%. Micromanaging bosses followed at 30%, while lack of recognition accounted for 22%.

When Productivity Becomes Unsustainable

Pressure is not always harmful. Clear goals, manageable deadlines and a sense of purpose can help employees perform well. Problems arise when intense demands become the norm, recovery time disappears and employees have little control over how work is organised.

Long hours can leave less time for sleep, relationships and activities that help people recover. Constant notifications can make the working day feel endless. Unclear expectations and unrealistic targets can keep employees anxious even when they are away from their desks.

Over time, this can affect concentration, motivation and the ability to sustain performance. Employees may continue producing work, but maintaining that output can become difficult.

“The problem is that being busy and being productive are not the same thing. I have personally seen instances where seniors taking frequent breaks swoop in at the “right” time to claim credit and are often applauded for the work others have done. When employees feel they have to demonstrate how occupied they are, they may end up prioritising visibility over meaningful work. It can also create an unhealthy culture where people hesitate to log off on time or set boundaries because they worry it might be interpreted as a lack of dedication,” said Malhotra.

What Needs To Change?

Employees cannot solve every workplace problem through meditation, exercise or better time management. Individual coping strategies may help, but they cannot compensate indefinitely for excessive workloads, unpredictable schedules or managers who discourage people from speaking up.

The Naukri survey shows that 60% of employees identified flexible work options as the intervention that would help their mental well-being most. That was well ahead of stress-management workshops, selected by 22%, paid mental health days at 10% and managerial training at 9%.

Flexibility alone will not fix every problem. Organisations also need realistic workloads, clear expectations, supportive managers and confidential access to professional help. Employees should be able to raise concerns without assuming that doing so will damage their prospects. Time off must be genuinely protected, rather than followed by an unmanageable backlog.

“I feel workplaces need to focus more on the quality of work, outcomes and sustainable performance, rather than treating long hours and constant availability as evidence of commitment,” said Malhotra.

World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to move beyond awareness messages and ask what everyday working life looks like for employees. Are deadlines realistic? Can people disconnect after work? Do managers respond constructively when someone asks for help? Is taking leave treated as normal, or as a sign of weakness?

“It is important to understand that mental health issues need not be brushed under the carpet, just because their impacts are not always visible,” said Agarwal.

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What percentage of Indian employees were hesitant to disclose mental health as a reason for taking time off?

According to the Naukri Pulse 2025 survey, nearly three in four professionals in India were hesitant to disclose mental health as the reason for taking time off, with 19% avoiding leave altogether and 45% marking it as general sick leave.

What workplace factor was most frequently cited as affecting employee mental well-being in the survey?

Poor work-life balance was cited as the most frequent workplace factor affecting mental well-being at 39%, followed by micromanaging bosses at 30% and a lack of recognition at 22%.

What workplace intervention did employees identify as most helpful for their mental well-being?

Flexible work options were identified by 60% of employees as the most helpful intervention for mental well-being, far outpacing stress-management workshops at 22%, paid mental health days at 10%, and managerial training at 9%.

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Shilpy Bisht

Shilpy Bisht is a News Editor at News18, where she leads the English app operations. She writes on world affairs, health, AI, career, business, and issues affecting women and children. A former print …Read More

“Being ‘always available’ for work doesn’t necessarily improve your productivity; rather, it often harms it,” said 26-year-old Raima Agarwal, who works at start-up in Bengaluru. “When you are constantly swamped with work, you don’t get time for yourself. This drains your energy and makes you feel worn out over time.”

This is the productivity-mental health paradox concerning many employees across India and the world.

What The Workplace Data Reveal

A Naukri Pulse 2025 survey of 19,650 jobseekers across 80 industries in India found that nearly three in four professionals were hesitant to disclose mental health as the reason for taking time off. While 45% said they would mark it as general sick leave, 19% would avoid taking leave altogether. Only 28% were comfortable explicitly identifying mental health as the reason.

The reluctance was not simply about privacy. Around 31% feared being perceived as incapable, 27% worried about colleagues’ judgement and 21% feared that disclosing their struggles could affect career growth.

The findings reveal a workplace contradiction where employees may feel compelled to protect their professional image even when they need time to recover. Taking leave becomes a calculation about reputation rather than a straightforward decision about well-being.

“There’s a certain stigma around mental health. It is because of this mentality that employees are often not comfortable sharing their concerns with co-workers. There can be a bunch of factors, such as the fear of being judged or losing career opportunities because others may not consider you fit for the job, said Agarwal.

Malhotra shared similar views. She said people may “worry” that they will be overlooked for promotions, excluded from important assignments or seen as someone who cannot be relied upon. “There is also the fear that being honest about your mental health could change how your manager or colleagues perceive you.” “Many workplaces have normalised being overworked,” she stressed.

India’s engagement numbers offer another reason to look beyond attendance and output. The 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found that 23% of Indian employees were engaged at work in 2025, down from 30% in 2024. Meanwhile, 59% were classified as not engaged and 18% as actively disengaged.

Engagement is not a clinical measure of mental health, and these figures do not mean that the remaining employees are unwell. They do, however, raise questions about how connected people feel to their work and workplaces.

A separate study, ‘State of Mind: The Startup Ecosystem, found that 47.5% of 823 surveyed founders, employees, investors and ecosystem supporters scored below its low-wellbeing threshold. Employees reported the weakest outcomes: 54.3% fell below the threshold, compared with 42.9% of founders.

The study also found a striking association between psychological safety and well-being. Among respondents who did not feel safe speaking up about workplace struggles, 88.3% recorded low wellbeing. The corresponding figure among those who felt safe was 26.7%. The study cautioned that this association does not establish that one factor directly causes the other.

Why Employees Choose Silence Over Support

The fear of being labelled incapable can make employees hide problems until they become harder to manage. In competitive workplaces, admitting that a workload is unmanageable may feel like confessing to a lack of ambition or ability. Younger professionals may be especially guarded: the Naukri survey found that only around a quarter of freshers and early career professionals were comfortable explicitly identifying mental health as the reason for leave.

“Some employees may also feel that speaking up will not change anything, especially if they have seen others raise concerns without any meaningful action. And for people who have spent years building a reputation for being dependable, saying no or admitting they are overwhelmed can feel like letting people down. Sometimes, staying silent becomes a way of protecting the professional image you have worked hard to build,” said Malhotra.

Managers can unintentionally reinforce this silence when they reward constant availability, treat leave as a lack of commitment or expect employees to respond outside working hours. Micromanagement and lack of recognition can add to the pressure.

In the Naukri survey, poor work-life balance was the most frequently cited workplace factor affecting mental well-being, at 39%. Micromanaging bosses followed at 30%, while lack of recognition accounted for 22%.

When Productivity Becomes Unsustainable

Pressure is not always harmful. Clear goals, manageable deadlines and a sense of purpose can help employees perform well. Problems arise when intense demands become the norm, recovery time disappears and employees have little control over how work is organised.

Long hours can leave less time for sleep, relationships and activities that help people recover. Constant notifications can make the working day feel endless. Unclear expectations and unrealistic targets can keep employees anxious even when they are away from their desks.

Over time, this can affect concentration, motivation and the ability to sustain performance. Employees may continue producing work, but maintaining that output can become difficult.

“The problem is that being busy and being productive are not the same thing. I have personally seen instances where seniors taking frequent breaks swoop in at the “right” time to claim credit and are often applauded for the work others have done. When employees feel they have to demonstrate how occupied they are, they may end up prioritising visibility over meaningful work. It can also create an unhealthy culture where people hesitate to log off on time or set boundaries because they worry it might be interpreted as a lack of dedication,” said Malhotra.

What Needs To Change?

Employees cannot solve every workplace problem through meditation, exercise or better time management. Individual coping strategies may help, but they cannot compensate indefinitely for excessive workloads, unpredictable schedules or managers who discourage people from speaking up.

The Naukri survey shows that 60% of employees identified flexible work options as the intervention that would help their mental well-being most. That was well ahead of stress-management workshops, selected by 22%, paid mental health days at 10% and managerial training at 9%.

Flexibility alone will not fix every problem. Organisations also need realistic workloads, clear expectations, supportive managers and confidential access to professional help. Employees should be able to raise concerns without assuming that doing so will damage their prospects. Time off must be genuinely protected, rather than followed by an unmanageable backlog.

“I feel workplaces need to focus more on the quality of work, outcomes and sustainable performance, rather than treating long hours and constant availability as evidence of commitment,” said Malhotra.

World Mental Health Day is an opportunity to move beyond awareness messages and ask what everyday working life looks like for employees. Are deadlines realistic? Can people disconnect after work? Do managers respond constructively when someone asks for help? Is taking leave treated as normal, or as a sign of weakness?

“It is important to understand that mental health issues need not be brushed under the carpet, just because their impacts are not always visible,” said Agarwal.

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