Promotion burnout: why women are quitting the race to be boss

Is “promotion burnout” a new workplace trend or a worrying tendency? A survey of 1,000 professional women by the recruitment agency Robert Walters found 54% felt less motivated to pursue promotions than they did two years ago. McKinsey’s 2025 Women in the Workplace report identified a gender “ambition gap”, with women now less likely than men to want promotion.

Advancement is harder for many women. A Yale study from 2021 found women at one US retail chain were 14% less likely to be promoted, because they are “consistently judged as having lower leadership potential than men”. McKinsey also found women receive less career support, and a 2017 survey of 13,000 UK employees showed women often find promotion less rewarding because they are perceived as less competent.

The gender pay gap remains at 10.9% and progress has stalled. Burnout and extra workplace burdens add to the reluctance to climb the ladder.

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