Try These 3 Strategies To Help Reduce Burnout In Hourly Work

This expert opinion by Natalie Onkst, ASME editorial intern, was originally published on Inc.com.

Burnout isn’t just a problem for big businesses—it’s hitting small businesses and companies with significant numbers of hourly workers especially hard. According to Legion Technologies’ 2025 State of the Hourly Workforce Report, burnout and job turnover mean half of the managers it surveyed fear for their jobs, and more than half of their workers are ready to change career fields altogether.

These and other statistics on burnout are a huge warning sign. A 2025 study by the open source management software company Moodle found that 66 percent of workers across all employment sectors are experiencing burnout, an all-time high. Large companies like Starbucks and Chipotle undergo waves of employee burnout, contributing to a report in Restaurant Dive noting that over 23,000 service workers quit their jobs every single day. That was in February of 2024, and the problem persists, taking a toll on companies that have high turnover rates.

While burnout remains a feature of hourly work, particularly in industries like food service and at small businesses, there are ways to reduce its toll on workers and company productivity. These three practical strategies suggested by HR experts and organizational specialists could lessen hourly worker burnout risks and help foster long-term team cohesion. 

Adjust Hourly Schedules 

Workers are reaching their stress limit, with 61 percent of hourly employees telling Legion’s researchers that flexibility is their top need. Their supervisors also agreed, with 46 percent calling scheduling issues a major obstacle to retaining employees.

Cassidy Caraway, the manager at Oddly Correct Coffee, a specialty coffee shop in Kansas City, recognizes the importance of flexibility for her employees. With nearly 20 employees working a range of 32 to 40 hours per week, she often encourages them to work less. 

“[I’m] like, hey, you have [paid time off], use your PTO, take an extra day off, or take a really intentional day off, [to] totally zone out from work,” Caraway says. 

Dylan Ruggles, the vice president of program delivery at Jewish Vocational Service, says that one of the key impacts of burnout are time pressures. Ruggles adds that employees who have to take care of children or family members can lead to less dedication to their work. It is reasons like this that are leading companies to look into having four day work weeks. 

According to 4 Day Week Global, an organization dedicated to bringing four-day work weeks worldwide to companies, 39 percent of staff felt less stressed after doing a trial run of the program.  

“I’m very pro-four-days-a-week or less, if possible,” Caraway says,  “And, if we had all the money in the world, we [would pay] people to work four days a week and give them days off.”

Stefan Underwood, the vice president of methodology at Exos, a performance and training management company, leads a team of consultants looking to improve work-life balance throughout the office. It was through various discussions, about working less hours, that led to Exos’ implementation of “You Do You Fridays.” 

“It doesn’t mean that we never worked,” Underwood says, “What it means is we had some autonomy to take care of our work and things we did…being able to get a later start in the day, go for a hike in the morning, and sit down [with a] nice cup of coffee; I felt like I could get more done in two or three hours on a Friday than I could on an average work day.” 

Underwood clarifies that Exos wasn’t transitioning into a four-day work week, but takes inspiration from the model. Exos wanted to build upon their readiness culture code and be intentional about the workplace environment they are creating.

Underwood says that when “You Do You Fridays” first started, everyone was hesitant. However, with more time, people started engaging in healthier habits like properly eating, going on walks, and getting more hours of sleep. 

“We trust that you are taking care of yourself and doing what you need to do on Friday to be the best you can be as a person, which benefits us as an organization,” Underwood says. 

Investing In Employees 

Turnover rates cost companies money that could be used to improve their work environment. Legion Technologies found that 50 percent of hourly employees plan to leave their job within the next year due to fewer growth opportunities and ongoing stress. 

“Oftentimes these hourly positions are lower-paying,” Ruggles says, “And so we see participants express the stressors [given] and how that impacts their lives and their ability to continue within those employment spaces.”

Furthermore, the workplace environment plays an important role in whether the employee decides to leave or stay. Legion’s report found 43 percent of hourly workers claimed that their company isn’t adding improvements to their workplaces. 

Through continual analysis of what would best reduce burnout, Exos came up with an analogy of a stool to claim which three parts support burnout. First is the person, the second is the environment, and the third is the work that is required of the employee. 

“If you’re experiencing burnout, and your role goes to a four-day work week, but you’re in this horrible toxic culture, you’re not going to feel any less burnout. Speaking for myself, I would choose a five-day work week in a positive team environment rather than any two days in a toxic culture,” Underwood says. 

Ruggles continues by saying that employees are an investment. If you prioritize them, they’ll prioritize their work. 

“I encourage employers and organizations to partner with workforce development organizations like JVS to ensure that they are having sort of holistic approaches to their roles,” Ruggles says. “That they’re including things like benefits, competitive salary, that they are ensuring that the job descriptions make sense, and all of those things which reduce the burnout and the high turnover rate.” 

Open Communication 

Creating a space for employees to air their concerns has proven to be successful. For Caraway, she conducts three one-on-one check-ins each year with every employee to give space to air any concerns. 

“I try to keep open communication about burnout because it’s kind of inevitable in the service industry,” Caraway says. 

Caraway continues that employees have shared when they start feeling burnt out, they request time off until they are feeling better. She says that this type of communication has become normal because of the staff’s camaraderie with one another. She also encourages discussions and takes her staff’s burnout-related temperature by sending them Google Forms to gauge if people prefer working opening and closing shifts. 

“When people are working the schedules that they prefer or like, or especially working the shifts that they like, it does help kind of slow that burnout when they’re picking their own schedules,” Carrway says. 

Marjorie Morrison, the Society for Resource Management’s executive-in-resident for mental health, says that it is important to talk about burnout openly because it is up to employees to advocate for themselves. When approaching a manager or supervisor, she says it’s better to say address the issue with possible solutions, instead of merely focusing on the personal toll of burnout. 

“Remember that [your] number one job is to be able to complete your job,” Morrison says. “Come at it from a place of, ‘I’m going to get my job done, but these are the things I’m struggling with.’”

Burnout is something every manager wants to contain but, most find there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Oftentimes, communication is the easiest skill in preventing burnout. 

“An important part of managing people is making them feel like the work that they do is impactful,” Caraway says. “They’re human, they’re gonna have feelings, they’re gonna have good days and bad days and recognize that, [and meet] them where they’re at.”