New Care.com Research Uncovers a Major Threat to Retention as Employers Underestimate Burnout

New research reveals an underestimated employee burnout crisis that poses a major threat to retention—and points to caregiving responsibilities as a critical root cause. Care.com's 2025 Future of Benefits Report, released today, finds the majority of employers (84%) recognize that burnout has a moderate to high impact on retention. Yet, there is a 24-point disconnect in how employers and employees perceive burnout–employers believe 45% of their employees are at risk of or are burning out, while 69% of employees report experiencing moderate to high burnout risk.

The findings further uncover an employee burnout crisis that has strong links to caregiving—83% of those who pay for family care say the challenge of balancing care responsibilities with work responsibilities exacerbates risk of burnout. Employees report higher stress (64%), lower quality of life (48%), lower job satisfaction (40%), decreased mental health (38%), and lower work productivity (34%) when their caregiving needs are unsupported by their employer. And employers are already feeling the impact as nearly 1 in 5 employees (19%) have left their job because they weren't offered family care benefits.

"Our research sounds the alarm to business leaders that investing in the well-being of your people—especially caregiving employees—is critical," said Brad Wilson, CEO of Care.com. "The need to balance caregiving and work responsibilities is at the root of workplace burnout, draining productivity and driving turnover. We cannot afford to underestimate this crisis. It's simple: provide caregiving support, prevent burnout at the source, and build resilient companies."

Highlights from the 2025 Future of Benefits Report, which surveyed 600 C-suite level executives and HR decision-makers and 1,000 benefits-eligible employees, include:

Employers' #1 goal is to attract and retain employees—but burnout is getting in the way: Attracting and retaining employees is the top priority for today's employers when designing benefits strategies, and 84% of employers acknowledge that burnout plays a moderate to high role in employee retention. Yet employees are facing burnout—more than employers realize: while employers think 45% of their employees are at risk of burnout or are burnt out, a much larger 69% of employees report moderate to high levels of burnout risk.

Caregiving responsibilities drive burnout among employees: Of the respondents who pay for family care (58%), 83% say the challenge of balancing care responsibilities with work responsibilities exacerbates risk of burnout.

Employees with access to care benefits say that without such access, they would experience higher stress (64%), lower quality of life (48%), less time spent with family (41%), lower job satisfaction (40%), decreased mental health (38%), lower work productivity (34%), and greater absenteeism (34%).

Without family care benefits, employers risk losing talent: Failing to provide caregiving support isn't just a quality-of-life issue for employees—it's a retention risk for employers. Approximately 1 in 5 employees might leave their job if another offered child care benefits (18%) and senior care benefits (20%). Meanwhile, nearly 1 in 5 employees (19%) have already left their jobs because their employer did not offer family care benefits.

Family care benefits are a win-win for employees and employers alike: The good news is employers who invest in family care benefits see real return—in employee well-being, workforce stability and overall bottom line.

Those with access to care benefits commonly report major ways these benefits improve their lives: higher quality of life (59%), lower stress (52%), better work-life balance (52%), increased happiness (47%), and the ability to spend time with family (41%). Employees who have access to child care or senior care benefits also note additional savings, reporting an average out-of-pocket savings of nearly $1,000 annually on both child care ($978) and senior care ($952). Access to care benefits also improves employees' ability to show up reliably at work, with employees reporting higher work productivity (45%) and lower absenteeism (40%) due to access to family care benefits.

When employees are less burned out, companies see financial return. The majority of employers (80%) predict profitability would increase by 25% or more if no employees were at risk of burning out.

Employers and employees agree—companies have a role to play in caregiving: Both employees and employers recognize that addressing caregiving challenges isn't just a personal responsibility—it's a business imperative. In fact, 72% of employees say employers have a responsibility in reducing the cost of care and 78% of employers agree.

The full results of The 2025 Future of Benefits Report can be found here.

2025 Future of Benefits Report Methodology

The Future of Benefits Report surveyed two sample populations. The sample of 600 U.S. adults was surveyed from November 21 to December 17, 2024. All respondents are C-Suite level executives, HR Managers or higher ranking staff at companies with over 100 employees, and are at least partially responsible for company decisions regarding employee benefits, confirmed by both consumer-matched data and self-confirmation. DKC Analytics conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the Pollfish survey delivery platform, which delivers online surveys globally through mobile apps and the mobile web along with the desktop web. No post-stratification has been applied to the results. The full and valid survey completion rate was 52%.

The sample of 1000 U.S. adults was surveyed from November 26 to 28, 2024. All respondents are currently employed for wages and eligible for employer-provided benefits, confirmed by both consumer-matched data and self-confirmation. DKC Analytics conducted and analyzed this survey with a sample procured using the Pollfish survey delivery platform, which delivers online surveys globally through mobile apps and the mobile web along with the desktop web. No post-stratification has been applied to the results. The full and valid survey completion rate was 73%.

About Care.com

Care.com is one of the largest providers of online services for finding family care and care jobs, spanning in-home and in-center care solutions. Since 2007, families have relied on Care.com for an array of care for children, seniors, pets, and the home. Designed to meet the evolving needs of today's families and caregivers, the Company also offers customized corporate benefits packages to support working families, household tax and payroll services, and innovations for caregivers to find and book jobs. Care.com is an IAC company (NASDAQ:IAC).

Care for Business, Care.com's enterprise division, offers the most comprehensive suite of employer-sponsored family care benefits to global businesses, including many of the Fortune 100. More than 630 employers look to Care for Business to help increase productivity, retain top talent, and support the diverse needs of their workforce with solutions designed to help solve today's most disruptive caregiving challenges.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250408012401/en/

Natasha Fellion, Associate Director, Communications

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Mackenzie Nintzel, Communications Manager

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