The data shows that 27.5% of employees were motivated mainly by meaning and outcomes, overtaking salary and material benefits (19.3%). Stability (14.8%) and autonomy (11.7%) followed as additional engagement factors.
At the opposite end, the report shows that the main demotivating factors in 2025 were not related to workload or technology, but to the relationship between employees and their organizations. Lack of recognition (9.1%), lack of clarity (7.9%) and internal conflicts (7.8%) significantly eroded employee wellbeing, indicating a deficit of feedback, dialogue and respect in the workplace. At the same time, the main sources of exhaustion for Romanian employees in 2025 were excessive workload (23.3%), constant pressure from tight deadlines (19.6%), and lack of work-life balance (16.4%).
The report indicates that employees accept high workloads and pressure when there is meaning, recognition and self-control over their own activity. In their absence, the same effort quickly becomes an emotional burden difficult to sustain. Burnout therefore does not appear as a result of intense work itself, but rather of work carried out in a context perceived as unfair, unpredictable or insufficiently explained.
“We see that people are not drained by long working hours, but by operating in environments where their efforts are poorly communicated, undervalued, and disconnected from a larger purpose. When work lacks meaning, any workload feels burdensome. Simultaneously, there is a significant shift in how employees define wellbeing in daily work, reflecting a more mature perspective on their relationship with employment. Increasingly, work is not merely a source of income, but a place where contributions should be valued, have meaning, and offer coherence,” stated Mihai Stanescu, Founder of RoCoach.
According to the Employee Wellbeing Index 2025, as employees advance within organizations, work pressure shifts from volume and financial reward towards responsibility, decision-making and meaning. The data shows that execution-level roles are consumed by intense work and motivated by stability and concrete results, while middle managers experience organizational tensions more acutely. At the executive level, motivation comes primarily from autonomy, meaning, and impact, although this is often accompanied by a higher cost in terms of work-life balance.
At the same time, for long-tenured employees within organizations, regardless of hierarchical level, energy consumption shifts from “uncertainty” and “lack of clarity” towards “high workload” and “constant pressure”, while motivation evolves from salary, recognition and respect towards stability, meaning, autonomy and tangible work outcomes.
Although artificial intelligence was widely debated in 2025, its direct impact on employee wellbeing was limited compared to other organizational factors. Only 5% of employees identified AI and technology as a major source of exhaustion. In contrast, 47.1% reported that technology and AI helped them at work, while 13.9% said these technologies negatively affected them.
The 2025 Employee Wellbeing Report shows that AI is not perceived as an autonomous threat, but as an amplifier of organizational reality. In organizations with clear roles, functional leadership and autonomy, technology is perceived as support. In organizations with misaligned processes and opaque decision-making, technology amplifies pressure and confusion.