Working Well? Spoken For Management Pulse Report 2026
Working Well? 2026 Pulse Report
Working Well?
A snapshot of wellbeing, performance and inclusion in modern work, across employees, freelancers and the creator economy.
103
Respondents
6
Role types
9
Themes explored
Modern work is evolving faster than organisational culture can keep up. Flexible roles, digital collaboration and always-on expectations are reshaping how people experience their professional lives.
This pulse report draws on responses from 103 professionals across employment types, from salaried employees to freelancers, founder-operators and content creators.
It surfaces four interconnected themes: the stress cost of overwork, the gap between support and lived reality, the quiet crisis of inclusion, and what people actually want next.
Produced by Spoken For Management, a boutique talent agency representing wellness entrepreneurs and founder creators.
Employee
60%
Freelancer / Consultant
16%
Creator / Influencer
11%
Founder and other
14%
Five headline findings
66%
The Burnout Chasm
Two-thirds report burnout in the last 12 months, yet only 26% report high daily stress. This gap points to chronic exhaustion rather than acute pressure.
100%
The Creator Paradox
Every content creator and influencer in the sample reported burnout. Founders have the highest rate of out-of-hours work (44%). Non-traditional roles are the new frontier of chronic overwork.
55%
Support Exists, But Balance Does Not
While 55% of organisations offer formal wellbeing support, nearly half of employees still report their work-life balance is only sometimes or rarely healthy.
57%
Wellbeing is a Career Barrier
More than half say mental and emotional wellbeing significantly or extremely impacts their performance. Among burnout sufferers, this rises to 72%.
41%
The Inclusion Question Mark
More people are unsure whether their sector is inclusive of neurodiverse talent than those who say yes. Uncertainty erodes trust as much as a direct no.
A note on methodology. This is a qualitative pulse study of 103 professionals fielded in Q4 2025, designed to surface directional insight rather than statistically representative findings. Patterns are treated as signals and starting points for conversation, not population-level data. Where percentages are cited, they reflect respondent proportions within this sample.
Section 01: Work intensity
The performance paradox
Working more does not mean performing better, and comes with clear stress consequences. Even those working normal hours experience moderate stress, signalling systemic issues beyond workload alone.
5/10
Average stress score across all respondents
26%
Report high stress (7 to 10) in their current environment
79%
Work outside standard business hours at least occasionally
Average stress score by weekly hours worked
Under 20 hrs/wk
4/10
20 to 35 hrs/wk
5/10
36 to 50 hrs/wk
6/10
Over 50 hrs/wk
6+/10
Stress measured on a 1 to 10 self-reported scale. Scores are averages within each hours band.
Out-of-hours work and stress level
Rarely
5/10
1 to 2 times/wk
5/10
3 to 5 times/wk
~6/10
Daily
6+/10
6/10
Average stress reported by those working outside standard hours 3 to 5 times per week, the highest stress cohort in the dataset.
Key finding
The always-on pattern is not exceptional. It is the default. Nearly 4 in 5 respondents work evenings or weekends at some point. For those doing so regularly, stress scores approach the high-stress threshold.
Section 02: Burnout and support
The support gap
Organisations may assume formal support is sufficient. Lived experience tells a different story. 55% of respondents have access to formal support, yet one-third of them still report poor work-life balance.
66%
Experienced burnout in the last 12 months
55%
Have access to formal wellbeing support at work
72%
Of burnout sufferers say wellbeing significantly impacts performance
Work-life balance: with vs without formal support
Has formal support
67%
Still report poor work-life balance
No formal support
70%
Report poor work-life balance
Support meaningfully improves the picture but leaves a significant gap. One-third of those with formal support still report poor balance, suggesting structural issues that programmes alone cannot fix.
Top burnout drivers
Workload / pressure
85%
Poor org structure
72%
Communication gaps
61%
Financial insecurity
55%
Lack of resources
48%
Most valued support types
Wellness programmes
78%
EAPs
71%
Peer / mentoring
60%
Flexible working
55%
Mental health days
44%
3x more likely
Those who experienced burnout are three times more likely to say their wellbeing significantly or extremely impacts their performance, compared to those who have not (72% vs 31%).
Section 03: Inclusion and neurodiversity
The uncertainty problem
The unsure figure is as revealing as the no responses. A lack of confidence in inclusion can erode trust and engagement, an insight that is frequently overlooked in DEI conversations.
38%
Feel their sector is genuinely inclusive of neurodiverse talent
41%
Are unsure, higher than those answering yes
21%
Actively say no, their sector is not inclusive
Is your sector inclusive of neurodiverse talent?
38%Yes
41%Unsure
21%No
Yes, inclusive
Unsure
No, not inclusive
Barrier: visibility
Policies may exist on paper but are not visible or legible to those who need them. Uncertainty often reflects an absence of lived evidence, not deliberate exclusion.
Barrier: favouritism
Respondents cited feeling overlooked due to minority status or perceived favouritism. In small teams this can be particularly acute where informal culture sets the tone.
Signal for leaders
More respondents are uncertain than confident. That gap represents disengaged potential: talent that has not yet concluded it belongs. This is recoverable with intentional action.
For talent agencies
Creators and founders who are open about neurodiversity represent an under-served but growing space. Representation sends visible signals that go well beyond any policy document.
Section 04: What comes next
Long-term capacity over short-term intensity
The one-word vision respondents share for their ideal working life is consistent and quietly radical: they are not asking for ambition. They are asking for sustainability.
Most desired changes at work
Better boundaries
82%
Flexible working
76%
Less pressure
69%
More structure
64%
Protected dev time
58%
Top tools for sustainable growth
Project mgmt tools
75%
Automated admin
63%
Time management
58%
Clear workflows
52%
In their own words: my ideal work-life balance in one word
The most frequent responses overwhelmingly favour longevity and calm over ambition or intensity, a quiet rejection of hustle culture. No one said more.
57%
Say that mental and emotional wellbeing significantly or extremely impacts their work performance. This is not a HR metric. It is a business performance metric.
What this means
People are not asking for more perks. They are asking for permission to work differently: with boundaries, structure and protected time. Organisations and talent partners that build this into their model will retain the people that matter most.
The Working Well Report
The Working Well Report is Spoken For’s annual proprietary research into how individuals and organisations are redefining work, wellbeing, and culture in the modern world.
