Feeling exhausted despite performing well at work? Your job might be quietly breaking you. Get The Complete Industry Alignment Guide and start protecting yourself → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/buGFRSmn

In this episode of Career Clarity Unlocked, Theresa White, a 5x certified career coach, exposes quiet cracking—the silent epidemic destroying high performers across every industry in 2025.

If you wake up exhausted after a full night's sleep, if tasks that used to light you up now feel pointless, or if you're just trying to survive each workday without falling apart, you're experiencing quiet cracking. This isn't burnout—it's something much worse and far more invisible.

Theresa breaks down the $8.8 trillion global productivity crisis caused by quiet cracking, revealing how toxic profit-first workplaces are systematically breaking employees in slow motion. She exposes the shocking reality that CEOs now earn 285 times more than average workers while employees absorb impossible workloads, wage stagnation, and constant layoff threats.

This isn't about being weak or not speaking up enough. This is about a system designed to extract every drop of creativity, energy, and joy from workers while calling it "efficiency."

🎧 You'll learn:

• What quiet cracking is and how it differs from quiet quitting and burnout
• The systemic causes behind this silent epidemic (overwork, AI displacement, economic instability)
• How to recognize the 8 warning signs of quiet cracking in yourself or others
• Actionable strategies to protect your energy and set boundaries that stick
• How to plan a strategic exit from toxic workplaces without risking your income
• Why high achievers are most vulnerable to quiet cracking
• The real cost of ignoring this crisis on employees, companies, and society

Theresa shares real stories from the front lines and provides a roadmap to reclaim your energy, voice, and future. Whether you're slowly unraveling, leading a team showing these signs, or planning your escape from a toxic workplace, this episode offers hope and practical tools for change.

This is not about "just being more resilient." It's about recognizing that you deserve work that energizes you, not work that quietly destroys you.

⏱ Episode Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction to Quiet Cracking

02:05 Defining Quiet Cracking

02:58 The Systemic Causes of Quiet Cracking

04:53 The Impact on Employees and Workplaces

08:06 Recognizing the Signs of Quiet Cracking

28:49 Strategies to Combat Quiet Cracking

49:02 Systemic Solutions and Hope for the Future

57:36 Conclusion and Call to Action

 If this hit hard, you’re not alone. Start your exit strategy or protect your energy today:

• 3 ChatGPT Prompts to Find Career Clarity → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/Mr7xm4zG
• Deepening Your Self-Worth for Career Confidence → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/4KENh8tF
• 35+ Progressive Companies Hiring Now → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/xTDHFSpJ
• 17 Fill-in-the-Blank Templates to Reach Out to Recruiters → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/6WK6yxdR
• Networking and Application Tracker → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/XypBhjfU
• The Complete Industry Alignment Guide → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/offers/buGFRSmn

Coaching services:

1:1 Deep Dive Session → www.careerbloomcoaching.com/1-1-deep-dive-coaching-session

Career Clarity Formula → www.careerbloomcoaching.com/career-clarity-formula

📞 Book a free Career Clarity call to map your next chapter → https://www.careerbloomcoaching.com/consultation

Connect with Career Coach Theresa White

- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-a-white

- Facebook: www.facebook.com/careerbloomcoaching/

- Instagram: www.instagram.com/theresa_careerbloom/

- YouTube: www.youtube.com/@careerbloom

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- Website: www.CareerBloomCoaching.com

#CareerClarity #SetBoundariesAtWork #PeoplePleasing #WorkplaceHealing #CareerCoach #NervousSystemRegulation #CareerChange #SpeakUpAtWork #AssertivenessForWomen #BurnoutRecovery #WorkplaceTrauma #CareerEmpowerment

Unlock. We're all about those light bulb moments. I'm talking to people who are still trying to figure out what they're meant to do, coaching them life to reach that magical, yes, this is it moment, and we'll also hear from those who've already found their dream careers and figure out exactly how they did it.

Whether you are looking for inspiration or actionable advice on finding a career you love, I've got you covered time to unlock some career clarity. Let's dive in.

I'm still doing the same work, but now I just wanna make it through the day without falling apart. And I wonder if you have ever felt like you are slowly breaking, even though everything on the outside, more or less seems fine. And what is happening when you are actually doing everything right on the surface, but inside you still feel like you're falling apart.

That's what we call quiet cracking. It is a silent epidemic in our current workplace. Quiet cracking is the slow unraveling of an employee's emotional and psychological wellbeing without there being any dramatic breakdown or rebellion against it. So it is not the same as quiet. Quitting the trend we had a couple of years ago where people started to draw really clear boundaries and check out on purpose.

My point of view on quiet cracking is that this is absolutely not about workers being lazy or weak, or they're not speaking up enough, but this is about a system that is actively breaking people in slow motion. It's this profit first model of work that is crushing too many people and it's squeezing out every last drop of creativity, energy, and joy.

We've seen more workers burnout than ever. Layoffs are happening all over the place. Wages are flat. AI is replacing people, and employees are hanging in by a very thin thread. So many people want to leave, want to get out of it, but they feel like they can't. The market is super shaky and it feels so risky to make a move.

So in this episode, we're gonna break down exactly what quiet cracking is. We're gonna dig into why it is spreading so fast right now, especially under our current economic and political reality. We're gonna talk about how toxic profit obsessed workplaces are making things worse, and why AI layoffs and false promises are pushing people to the brink.

I'll also be sharing with you stories from the front lines, stories I hear all the time from people in myEd network and from my clients of what this looks like in real life. And we're gonna talk about what research says about the cost of ignoring it. We're gonna be talking about solutions as well.

If you lead a team where you see those signs or if you know someone who's impacted by it, then this episode is for you. If you are new here, I'm Theresa White, career clarity expert and five times certified career coach and the only coach who guarantees you career clarity In just 30 days, I am the coach behind over 600 women who found careers that feel like pinch me.

I am getting paid to do this. Clients consistently describe my sessions as epiphanies and answer to questions they've been asking for years. And I have seen with my own eyes how this quiet cracking phenomenon is playing out in my clients.

And most importantly, you'll walk away with hope and tools because quiet cracking is not the end of the road. It's the wake up call that we really need to take things in our hands and do something because we don't have to accept a version of work that breaks us. No, we deserve to thrive, not just survive at work.

And there is a better way to work, to live and to lead. And so today we're gonna talk about how to start finding that.

And I already said it is very different from quiet. Quitting quiet, quitting is intentional and it is visible. It is people doing the bare minimum to reclaim work-life balance. But quiet cracking on the other hand is involuntary. It's not a choice someone makes. It happens to you. It is internal and it is invisible.

Whereas quiet cracking is the slow motion path to getting to the burnout stage. And unlike burnout, which is wildly recognized, quiet cracking, often goes unnoticed because people are still functioning. So where does this quiet cracking come from? Well, as you can guess. It is chronic overwork without meaningful recognition or reward.

Often unclear job expectations. And bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger workloads, which the layoffs play into because you're just suddenly expected to the work to do the work of three people. Also feeling stuck because the chop market is uncertain and quitting doesn't feel like a safe option.

Employees and my clients who are impacted by the quiet cracking who are experiencing that on a day-to-day basis. I often see that they're still meeting their deadlines, they're still performing well, but they often feel like they're doing all of that on autopilot. Their creativity is hugely impacted and they often can't remember the last time they felt excited about a task.

They wake up, they have the Sunday scaries, and they wake up with the slow, quiet ache that just never seems to go away and they want to care. But they just cannot find the energy to do so anymore. A lot of times they tell themselves, well, it doesn't matter what I do anyway, and no one notices anyway, I'm just surviving in the heart thing.

Because the people keep showing up. They often smile in meetings, they hit their targets, they answer their emails, and they're doing that because they are terrified to lose their job if they don't keep up that facade. They are so scared that they're gonna be impacted by the next layoff. They have to keep pretending everything is fine.

And I wanna be so clear here that not a single person is the problem here. You are not meant to live and work under the conditions you're being dealt with. This truly is a systemic failure of modern work. And quiet cracking is just the symptom that we are seeing now. We see it all over the place that companies are running people into the ground while preaching, resilience and grit.

But the reality is that people are cracking because the system is rigged against their wellbeing. And this is such a clear signal that the old ways of working where we glorify burnout, ignore mental health, prioritize people over profit, those are breaking down and it is happening all over the place.

Quiet. Cracking is about being a human being, which we all happen to be in a system designed to extract labor, creativity, and energy, with no intention of giving anything meaningful back. Sounds pretty bad right now . If you've been in a history class before, like most of us have, this might bring back memories of the industrial revolution, the late 17 hundreds to mid 18 hundreds at that time.

And what we are seeing today reflects that same exploitative foundation just with modern tools and language. So instead of the assembly line, today's workplace has replaced physical machinery with email, KPI, dashboards and ai, but it's really the same thing. Everyone is expected to work faster, to do more of, is less be available 24 7.

It really feels like we're sliding backwards in so many ways. But I don't even wanna get into the broader political picture here. But yes, we are sliding backwards, not because we don't know or because we forgot how to protect workers. No, but because systems of power have recalibrated to extract more value with fewer obligations through the gig work, AI, deregulation, and eroded social contracts, it is a profit first module that is eating people alive.

You can't be upset when it breaks down. That's what is to be expected. That is what happens to employees, and a lot of that is in hands of companies and management. So we are lo seeing so much every day. I now talk to someone who's experienced a toxic workplace culture and we we're talking micromanagement.

Unclear expectations always on cultures 24 7 expectations that obviously produce chronic stress and then poor leadership often confuses compliance with engagement. And doesn't even see that employees are yet saying yes, but they're screaming and falling apart on the inside. There's no psychological safety in workplaces.

People are just expected to do more and faster and even better because AI can now help you. And then we have all these surveillance tools powered by ai, which are just mind-boggling, like mouse trackers, keystroke monitoring, productivity scores, and those increased pressure even more and absolutely kill in aero trust.

CEOs now earn 285 times 2, 632 times more than the average worker. This is insane. We are not talking about a pay gap anymore. This is a Kenyan, and these numbers are coming from A-F-L-C-I-O, the Executive Pay Watch Report, as well as Fortune.

And on the upper end, if you take this by 632 times, the CEO makes 63.2 millions per year. Now don't ever tell me again, there is no budget to increase employees salaries and there's no reason to delay bonuses to cut bonuses to deny promotions, but demand more and more of your employees while CEOs are making that kind of money.

Workplace safety rules are gutted, labor protections are being rolled back. We have to. Huge pro business anti-worker policies. As I already mentioned, we have cutbacks in osha, pro-corporate legal protections and union busting practices are encouraged. And then we are seeing the immigration restrictions in these insane ice rates.

And then we have the tariffs and all of that is destabilizing key industries. Causing what uncertainty and layoffs contributing to this trend even more. And as we all know, DEI and mental health initiatives are defunded dismissed, politically attacked. We are making life harder, and then taking the resources away from people that would help them.

And the result of all that is that workers are exposed, unsupported, and afraid. And all of that traps them in chops that quietly erode them.

And the reality we live in is a profit first thinking in the people last reality. Businesses are obsessed. Obsessed with short term gains, and that means cutting staff, raising expectations and ignoring wellbeing. And these, that efficiency miss that they're operating under means trimming labor costs to look good on paper while destroy morale, creativity, long-term viability.

And we've normalized the suffering in the name of resilience, or we call it hustle or grit or ambition, but all it is is actually exploitation. And when you are starting to experience quiet cracking, that is your body and your brain saying like, uh, this isn't working. That is a signal that something needs to change.

So now that I threw all of that at you, let's talk about what we can actually do When you're stuck in a system that is not gonna change overnight, how do we survive that culture that's quietly cracking everyone so that you can still protect your sanity, your purpose, and your future? And even though. No single person can fix this entire system tomorrow.

I so wish we could. There are things we can actually do and we can start doing them today, and that's what I wanna talk about next.

There are things that you can control even when the environment around you feels very much out of control. And given our current political climate, oh my God, let's talk about out of control. Not getting off topic here. So let's start with number one, setting boundaries and actually honoring them. If this is hard for you, watch my podcast episode last week.

It's gonna be a huge eye opener, opener to shift from people pleasing to being assertive and setting boundaries. So setting boundaries, one, stop answering emails or slack messages after hours and lost in an absolute emergency where it is necessary. Say no to extra projects or emotional labor that's not in your scope.

but honestly, no matter how much we give to a company when a layoff happens, a merger acquisition company restructuring, you are out the door. No matter how many hour, hours of overtime you worked, no matter how many soccer games you missed with your kids, they don't care. So you need to start to make sure your time off is secret and is not impacted by what's going on at work as much as you can.

It wasn't to have fun or go for a coffee. No. She needed an hour to actually really get stuff done and needed an hour of non interruption, and she got chewed out by her manager for it. It's insane what's going on in the workplace. But try to do it. If you put it on your calendar, you manage to choose you out.

Rest is what you need in this time. It's necessary to survive what you're going through. And I also really recommend documenting mistreatment. Keep a record, and even if you just email that to yourself and email it to your personal email, okay. Of unreasonable workload increases, emotional manipulation, disrespect all the big stuff that's happening, write it down.

What's going on at your workplaces? I also highly recommend, and this is a hard one, when your energy is just completely zapped out through your job, but find micro moments of joy, whatever it is that brings you joy. Do you like reading a book, cooking, music, movement, creative, hobbies, sports, whatever it is that reminds you that you're more than your job, even if you start with 15 minutes a week.

Maybe there is 15 minutes in your lunch break if you have a half an hour lunch break and you can 15 minutes spend on eating in 15 minutes on just doing something, just because it is joyful, that is enough to fill your energy tank to make it through the rest of the day. And then also try to reconnect with your identity outside of your role and your job title.

And then there's community. And even though quiet cracking does look different for each individual. We know what's happening all over the country or even all over the world, so you are not alone. And finding your people can be incredibly life changing. I highly recommend building a peer support group inside or outside of work, and I can see that in the Career Clarity formula, my coaching community, how powerful it is when women connect with women and support each other and just have someone.

So chances are you're not the only one impacted by that. And ask them like, how are you really doing? Like really what's going on for you to create community and reduce isolation

, If there's some openness in your company. I recommend suggesting employee led wellness groups, mental health days, or even anonymous feedback tools. In whatever way employees can communicate to the leadership team that we need more support in wellness, mental health feedback, make that known.

and don't be afraid to push back. I'm gonna refer back to my episode last week.

I'm gonna refer back to last week's episode that was episode 64, the Hidden Trauma Behind People Pleasing At Work, where you can learn actual strategies on how to push back that doesn't feel super scary, and you wanna start using those tools when leadership quietly promotes people with no race. Just overloads you with no additional support.

Don't just silently nod and say, okay, call it out. Call it for what it is. And you can use language like, this isn't sustainable, or I need clarity on expectations or what support will be provided if my responsibilities increase

And when you approach your manager, always come from a , collaborative standpoint. If you approach it as a confrontation, be like, you are giving me X, Y, and Z and this sucks. It's hard to come to a compromise or support, but when you come from collaboration and say, I know our department wants to achieve X, Y, and Z, but in order for us to do this, we need clarity.

I also encourage you, and this is actually the first thing I would love for all of you to do today or tomorrow, or at least this week, get really clear on your role and the expectations in your role, and ask yourself what's actually expected of me in this season and what can be deprioritized and when they put a higher workload on you.

That way you're clearly communicating everything that is on your plate and making it clear, yes, I can take on something else,. But there is something needs to give and you're inviting your manager to collaboratively help you figure that out.

And if your expectations have grown without you give, being given a different title or a raise, start to have those conversations too and make it really clear for your manager what your responsibilities are, what you've achieved, and how that's been impacting that company and the department. And then ask for a title or the race that you just serve.

Once you have that. Extramental space. It might just be a little bit of a window, but it's at least a bright light somewhere. Start with upskilling strategically, and I'm huge in being strategic. When you upskill and you start by getting really clear, what does my next professional step look like?

We are in a competitive flavor market, so you need to take those steps to really position you as the top candidate. It's possible. Once you're really clear, then you invest in filling those gap or in really setting yourself apart from others by maybe learning AI tools, leadership frameworks, communication skills, whatever the specifics are, that will futureproof your career.

Another thing to look into is. If the company culture overall is one that you feel aligned with, but your department or your team is really suffering or suffocating, you look for lateral or even internal moves within the organization, that might give you some of your energy back.

About choosing the right industry for you, and there is information about , how recession proof certain industries are, and what would be most aligned with what is important to you. Last but not least, highly recommend seeking out a coach. And I'm not just saying that because I'm a career coach myself, but also due to my own experience trying to navigate that without a coach and also having invested in coaching myself, and it is night and day.

And coaches. Good coaches will provide you with a safe and confidential space. Emotional safety is huge to me. It needs to be a judgment free space where you're accepted exactly as you are, no matter if you had the worst day or the best day, you can come in as you are in getting the support you need. You need to receive tailored career strategy, so nothing generic, but something that actually works for you in this very moment of time.

Accountability. Emotional resilience and guidance on strategic upskilling, strategic networking, setting boundaries, job search strategies. And most importantly, a good coach will really help you to stop spinning in circles and actually take effective steps forward that gets you closer to where you want to be.

There are things you can do right to recap. You can emotionally distance yourself from work without completely disengaging, but just putting a little bit buffer in there. You can also mentally label this chop as temporary and start planting seeds and taking steps for your exit. I'm huge on exit planning of being really intentional that the steps you take.

Rephrase that for yourself and say, I'm gathering information, or I'm preparing for a pivot, or I'm choosing where my energy goes, and just those small rephrases is a beautiful form of resistance and I guarantee you, you will not be there forever. I have my clients landing amazing roles with companies doing the right thing, caring about their employees every week.

It is possible, even it seems so hard, it's the right strategy and the right support. It is possible so you don't have to stay stuck in the survival mode forever. And you can't change your trajectory. One conversation at a time, one boundary setting at a time, one coaching session at a time will get you on the road to being in a much better place.

As we uncovered in this episode, quiet cracking isn't just hurting the individuals. It's impacting it's quietly breaking everything, and if we don't change course soon, the consequences won't be small because we are talking about failing companies burned out sectors and fractured society. This is a slow motion collapse, but it is happening and we're seeing it happening right now, and on management leadership teams.

And I wanna share an example with you, um, from the Greed Center. The Greed Center, of course, I'm gonna call it the Greed Center. It's the Greer Center, but might as well be called GRE Center. It is spelled G-R-E-E-R. And it is a for-profit health service company that was based in Pennsylvania. It was insane.

All of that led to multiple arrests to state investigations and lawsuits followed. Liberty, the company behind the Greer Center was very damaged. It lost its reputation, it lost it contracts and everything they gained financially was gone in the end. And this is a perfect example of what happens when companies treat employees like machines.

Loan individuals? No. This is the infrastructure failure in this moment really demands the reinvention of work. We need human centered trauma informed and equity driven workplaces. We need policies that protect wellbeing and cultures that value humanity. Anything less than that is just gonna be rearranging the chairs on the Titanic.

We've done that. The good thing is there are amazing companies out there doing the right thing and caring, and I wanna shout them out because we need more of them. Companies like Hilton Delta, capital One, uc, Davis Health, the wonderful company, they are recognized for putting employees first and they are.

And that is where the future is. And those companies, they're not some fantasy that's not realistic. No. They're just a few examples of what's possible when we stop pretending people are robots. Laura on my team wrote an absolute beautiful blog on this and I highly recommend, um, for you to check it out.

It is on our substack. On Substack is theresa career bloom substack.com, and it is called Five Steps to Leave a Toxic Workplace and Build a Career that Supports Your Mental Health. Must read.

So here's what I want you to remember and take away from this episode. Why Cracking has nothing to do with failing. It has nothing to do with you doing something wrong. This is the result and the symptom of the system we live and work in. And if your energy is strained or your creativity is gone, or you're wondering why you're feeling numb, even though you're still showing up and doing your work, that's not a you problem.

It's happening in every industry at every level. We are seeing it from senior executive to new grads. I talk to so many brilliant, high achieve link, deeply caring, committed people. That are all slowly burning out in silence because the system doesn't make space for humanity.

You can start a plan to move out of the quiet cracking or whatever your experience at work and towards something that's better. And again, there are companies doing the right things. There are amazing company cultures out there. Yes, they're the minority, but they exist and they're hiring, and you can be a part of that.

If this episode hit home for you and you're thinking, yeah, that resonates and this is something I'm going through, please book a free career clarity call with me. Yes, you get to speak to me directly for free. 'cause this is what I do. I help people just like you to go from stuck, exhausted, and directionless to being energized, clear and connected to the work that actually lights them up, no matter if you're mid-level or senior level.

I hope to see you back here next week on Career Clarity Unlocked, and until then, please take care of yourself, protect your energy, and know that you deserve work that is truly fulfilling, energizing, and makes you come alive.

And that's a wrap for today's episode of Career Clarity Unlocked, if you feeling stuck in that. What's next? Spiral and are ready to finally break free. Let's chat. You can book your free career clarity call where we'll uncover what's really important to you. Tackle any obstacles holding you back and map out your best next step.

And don't forget to share this episode with a friend or on social media. Your support truly means the world. Thanks for hanging out with me and I'll see you next time.