Gen Z are 'rusting out' at work as expert reveals red flags that could quietly damage their careers

“What did I actually do this week?”

If you’re asking yourself this frustrating and confronting question once Friday comes to a close, despite having spent the past five days rushing from one thing to the next, you’re not alone.

Your inbox is mostly dealt with, the meetings have been attended, even the ones that could have been emails, the errands have been squeezed in and you’ve somehow managed to keep up with the life. And yet, looking back, the week feels like a blur.

That's because a lot of the work you actually planned to do still needs to be done.

It’s not quite burnout. It’s not quite exhaustion. It’s the peculiar feeling of being perpetually busy, yet strangely unfulfilled. According to experts, there’s a name for it: rusting out.

Burnout gets more attention, and rightly so, but according to Kelly Allison, a workplace culture expert and founder of KVA, there’s a more ‘sinister’ counterpart.

“Where burnout is the result of too much, rusting out is the result of too little,” Kelly tells Tyla. “Not too little work necessarily, but too little meaning, challenge, growth or stimulation within the work someone is doing.”

It can impact your productivity and how you tackle tasks at work. “Rusting out is what happens when that slow Tuesday becomes every Tuesday, for months, and you start to lose not just your engagement with the job but your sense of your own capability and ambition.

Business psychologist Danielle Haig says rusting out happens when someone is ‘chronically under-stimulated’ at work.

“We all have boring days. Sometimes you have to do the spreadsheet or sit through the meeting that could have been an email. That’s life,” she explains to Tyla.

"It becomes a problem when the boredom is persistent and someone starts to feel that they aren’t learning, contributing or moving forward.”

Gen Z is more comfortable talking about workplace problems like rusting out. Danielle explains: “They have also entered the workplace at a time when we talk much more openly about mental health, purpose and engagement.

Do you get the end of the week and struggle to recall the work you did? (Getty Stock Image)

“I don’t think that necessarily means they are less willing to work. I think expectations around work have changed.”

And Kelly adds that Gen Z entered the workforce with the belief that work should be meaningful and not just financially rewarding. “Gen Z are acutely aware of their careers as long-term projects, and they're less willing to accept stagnation as a normal feature of working life.”

But rusting out isn’t something that is only experienced by young people, Kelly warns. “I believe this hits all generations rather than being a Gen Z phenomenon."

What does rusting out do to someone’s wellbeing over time? For Danielle, the real concern isn’t necessarily a quiet period at work. It’s when that feeling becomes a pattern.

Gradually, the feeling of immense boredom can lead to withdrawing from opportunities, no longer putting your hand up or volunteering for new challenges. And over time, that lack of engagement can start to chip away at confidence, particularly when you’re not getting the experiences that remind you what you’re capable of.

There can also be a growing sense of cynicism towards work. You turn up, do what you need to do and go home. “You’re not necessarily distressed but you’re not particularly engaged either," Kelly says. She suggests looking out for signs such as procrastination, doing the bare minimum, losing your curiosity, feeling as though every day is the same, or simply finding that you no longer care very much about the outcome.

Crucially, Kelly stresses that one quiet period at work doesn’t mean you’re rusting out. “It’s the pattern over time that matters.”

And the effects can extend beyond how you feel from nine to five.

“People who spend the early years of their career under-challenged often arrive at their 30s having technically accumulated years of experience but without the depth of capability that those years should have built,” Kelly warns. “They've stayed safe, stayed comfortable, and the world has moved around them while they stood still.”

Do you feel like your work is challenging and rewarding? (Getty Stock Image)

She adds: “If that formative period is spent in a role that demands very little, the consequences aren't just about that job - they ripple forward.”

So, if you’re starting to suspect you’re rusting out, what can you actually do about it?

Danielle’s first piece of advice is to work out exactly what’s missing. Are you craving more responsibility, wanting to learn something new, not getting to use your strengths, missing interaction with other people? Or have you simply outgrown the role?

From there, she recommends having a proper conversation with your manager. Rather than simply saying, “I’m bored”, Danielle suggests going in with something more constructive: “I’ve got capacity and I’d like to take on X. I’ve also been thinking about developing Y.” Having some ideas ready can make the conversation far more productive.

If you’re feeling under-stimulated, look for ways to stretch yourself.

“We talk a lot about people being overwhelmed at work. We don’t talk nearly as much about what happens when people are consistently underwhelmed.” Work doesn’t need to be thrilling every minute of every day — that’s hardly realistic. But, she says, most of us need to feel that we’re “learning, contributing and doing something that matters to us.”