Your job can actually kill you: More than 840,000 people die annually from health conditions linked to work stress, ILO report says

We all agree to the unwritten contract when we enter the corporate world: put in long hours, toil twice as hard as the next guy, and forgo sleep and a social life long enough for you to climb the ladder. And sure, you put up with intense stress from tight deadlines, anxiety about the office bully, and the constant fear of job insecurity, but in the end, it’s all worth it, right? Well, it turns out the rat race could kill you after all.

Not only does the way labor, as it is designed, contribute to symptoms of burnout, but it may be making people physically sick, and could potentially lead to death. According to a new International Labour Organization report, more than 840,000 people die each year from health conditions linked to major psychosocial risks at work. The report examined how job strain, effort-reward imbalance, job insecurity, long working hours, and workplace bullying contribute to cardiovascular disease and mental disorders.

The report, titled “The psychosocial working environment: Global developments and pathways for action” estimates work-related psychosocial risk factors are associated with 840,088 deaths annually worldwide and nearly 45 million disability-adjusted life years, a measure of healthy years lost to illness, disability, or premature death. The ILO estimates the combined burden from cardiovascular disease and mental disorders associated with those workplace risks is equivalent to a loss of 1.37% of the global GDP each year.

The overwhelming share of the estimated death toll comes from cardiovascular disease, with the ILO attributing 783,694 deaths to cardiovascular conditions such as ischemic heart disease and stroke, compared with 56,394 deaths linked to mental disorders including depression. But mental disorders account for the larger share of healthy life years lost, reflecting the chronic and disabling nature of many mental health conditions.

Read more: https://fortune.com/2026/04/28/workplace-stress-840000-people-annually-ilo/