What Is “Rust Out”? The Burnout Alternative You Might Be Experiencing at Work

Source: Jenni Royston | Dupe Source: Jenni Royston | Dupe

I love a good routine just as much as the next person, but doing the same thing day in and day out gets exhausting. Performing repetitive tasks at work, like answering emails, following up with clients, and creating invoices, has been wearing me down more and more lately. Normally, I’d chalk this up to boredom—you know, same thing, different day, whatever. But, as it turns out, I’m not the only one feeling this way. A Gallup survey revealed that only 31 percent of workers felt actively engaged at work in 2025, with Gen Z and younger millennial professionals reportedly being hit the hardest across generations. This phenomenon, which is emerging across workplaces everywhere, is being described as “rust-out.”

There’s a big difference between having a slow week and feeling consistently unchallenged, uninspired, or disconnected from your work, and that distinction is exactly what makes rust-out worth paying attention to. If you’ve ever found yourself staring at the clock, going through the motions, or wondering when your job started feeling so painfully meh, you might already know the feeling. So, I set out to learn everything I could about burnout’s alter ego, rust-out. Ahead, I’m breaking down what it is, why it happens, and what you can do if you’re experiencing it yourself.

In this article 1 What is rust-out? 2 What’s causing widespread rust-out? 3 Signs of rust-out 4 What to do if you’re experiencing rust-out 5 When rust-out means it’s time for a new job