‘Karoshi': The Unspoken Killer That Can End Your Career And Life

Forbes

5 days ago

A large body of research shows that job stress leads to mental and physical illnesses, but too few people understand that there's another dangerous step after burnout that can end your career and lead to death. It starts with unmanaged chronic job stress, leads to burnout and, when unaddressed, to karoshi--the Japanese term for death from overwork. Members of the American workforce die from karoshi on an annual basis.
It's a paradox, isn't it? The jobs we perform day-in and day-out to survive--paying bills and putting food on the table to keep us alive--also kill us, and nobody talks about it. But the Japanese do. They call it karoshi, referring to the thousands of workers a year who drop dead from putting in 60-to-70-hour workweeks. It's so common in Japan that the workplace had been dubbed, 'a killing field.' And some economists in India have referred to death from overwork as 'a poison by slow motion.'
Cases of anxiety, depression, suicide and stress-related diseases are on the rise. Studies show that unmanaged work stress bombards our neurological system, keeping our fight-or-flight response on high alert, creating high blood pressure and heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and a lowered immune system. As unmanaged overworking damages our health, it also leads to an unmanageable life, family disintegration and even karoshi.
There's a reluctance to call it what it is in the U.S., where 45% of workers consider themselves to be modern-day workaholics. And another 59% of all American employees face moderate or high burnout, according to a 2024-2025 Aflac WorkForces Report.
But karoshi goes unspoken in the U.S. because the English language has no word for it. When workers keel over at their work desks from karoshi in this country, we call it heart attacks, strokes or diabetes, but those are actually the symptoms of unmanaged work stress and burnout that lead to karoshi. So, to put this in perspective, it's time to put a name to this unseen killer, and for now karoshi will do.
A new report finds that 62% of employees are more stressed in 2025 than a year ago, making the potential for death from burnout and karoshi even more real, driving a generational shift in employees opting out. With 65% of workers daydreaming about quitting their jobs just to focus on themselves, this is a much bigger story than meets the eye.
The Aflac WorkForces Report cites that 64% of employees with high burnout plan to look for a new job within the next 12 months. Millennials are the most burned-out generation with 66% saying they're facing moderate or high burnout. Of course, stats on karoshi don't exist because that data isn't collected.
But karoshi is an equal opportunity employer, and the risks don't stop with the younger generation. New data from Vistage reveals that burnout has climbed the corporate ladder--all the way to the top, showing that the vast majority (71%) of CEOs feel regularly or occasionally burned out, with one in three (32%) saying they have experienced burnout 'frequently' or 'nearly every day' over the past year.
According to Carl Niedbala, co-founder and COO of Founder Shield, top executives are walking away. In 2024, a record 2,221 CEOs stepped down in the U.S. (up from 1,914 the year before) and that number keeps climbing, he told me by email. The role has become overwhelmingly stressful from dealing with AI and cyberthreats that often lead to lawsuits, to facing nonstop pressure from boards and the public--all while dealing with expectations that feel impossible to meet.
'Top-tier talent courageously redefines what 'success' means as the CEO exodus continues, fueled by relentless demands, intense scrutiny and personal unfulfillment,' Niedbala explains. "Companies must implement savvy risk management strategies to effectively support rising leaders—and prevent their C-Suites from collecting dust."
So, forget about relaxing after work. A new study shows most employees are using their free time to recover from their jobs. A survey of 2,000 workers from Headway app reports that 60% say their free time is being spent burnt out, recovering from work and not enjoying life. The study found one in four feel guilty for doing something as simple as pursuing a hobby, and a quarter of employees say they feel as if they no longer have a personality outside of work.
Experts at Headway are calling this a crisis point, where 36% of employees have stopped exercising because of work, 32% no longer socialize and 27% have quit traveling altogether. One in four employees say they've stopped doing anything for fun.
'Employees who spend evenings and weekends just recovering from work aren't making a living--they're surviving it,' says Cindy Cavato, certified productivity coach at Headway app. 'Over time, this drains motivation, creativity and the sense of self that drives success. Businesses that ignore this risk higher turnover and lose valuable potential. Sustainable productivity comes not from pushing employees to the limit, but from giving them time and space to be human.'
Studies show that self-care is the first line of defense and that companies that prioritize employee self-care boost their bottom line. Many professionals believe the myth that work stress and risk of burnout are prerequisites to get ahead in your career. But the science shows the opposite: work stress and burnout truncate your career trajectory.
If you're in the habit of sacrificing your well-being to meet work demands, it's hard to be the best version of yourself. Self-sacrifice isn't a badge of honor; it's a death sentence. Self-care prepares you to give more to your job. When you put yourself first, there's more of you to go around, and you can work healthier and longer.
Gen Z have been advocates for greater work flexibility and work-life balance and at the forefront of micro-shifts and micro-retirements. 'The rise of micro-retirement reflects a deeper lifestyle shift, it signals the relationship between people and work continues to evolve,' Dr. Marais Bester, senior consultant at SHL, told me. "People want a break to re-balance priorities in a world where traditional work and career models no longer fit everyone. For employers, this trend can be unsettling, but it also opens the door to a more flexible, human-centered talent strategy.'
It's crucial that leaders encourage their employees to unplug. Nearly half (47%) of employees say that having an employer who respects personal time off is a top contributor to work-life balance. Half (51%) of employees say more paid time off is the most effective way to alleviate burnout, followed by self-care programs (47%) and options to work from home (43%).
There's a call for redefining the wellness category in corporate America. It begins with changing the collective delusion that it's a badge of honor for employees to burnout or put their lives on the line and die from karoshi to succeed.
As more organizations ditch the collective delusion and more workers do their part to bring a healthy mind, body and spirit to the workplace, the potential for a sustainable career trajectory and the company's bottom line are guaranteed.
In the final analysis, karoshi prevention is about finding a healthy work-life balance, not a profit versus humanity proposition. And finding it will continue to be a problem in 2025 unless significant changes are made in work practices, overtime demands and inefficient meetings. The challenge will be for companies to create work cultures that blend productivity and profitability with humanity and physical and mental wellness. Ultimately, it's a package deal.