Melissa NICHOLSON

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Three-quarters of struggling employees are saying, “Thanks, but no thanks. It’s not helping.” Think about it. We’ve designed jobs that are legitimately too big for one person. Multiple stakeholders, complex projects, constant deadlines. When you split that between two capable professionals, suddenly it becomes easily manageable.

Introduction

INTRO: Welcome to Job Share Revolution. The show about job sharing—a partnership between two people to bring two minds and skill sets to one full-time position. I’m Melissa Nicholson, former job sharer turned founder of the first U.S. job share company. But it wasn’t long ago that I felt like an utter failure at work and as a new parent. Job sharing was my game-changer. I reclaimed four days a week to fully engage in my life while my capable partner handled everything. Together, we achieved more than I ever could solo. Fast forward to many lessons learned to bring you the training and support I wish I’d had to change lives and the modern-day workplace. Let’s live life and slay work.

Melissa NICHOLSON INTRO

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Hey friend, it’s Mel. I’m so glad you’re here, and I know that life is busy, so I thank you for spending your time with me on the Jobshare Revolution podcast, where every week we dive into workplace topics we hear are top of mind for you from equity to wellness to flexibility, and of course, job sharing. Welcome back to our special series on the seven biggest challenges driving the great working mom exodus of 2025.

We’re now at episode four, which means we’re more than halfway through this series. So let me quickly recap where we’ve been: We started with return-to-office mandates, then explored cultural shifts around gender roles, and last episode, we tackled the childcare crisis and affordability, which I know is affecting so many of you.

Today? We’re diving into something that affects every single one of us—the mental load and burnout. And I’m going to tell you right now: the problem is not new, but the data suggests it’s not getting better. In fact, it’s getting worse.

Before we get into it, I want to acknowledge something. If you’re listening to this and you’re barely holding it together right now, like, if you are so exhausted and overwhelmed and wondering how much longer you can keep going—I see you. I’ve been you. I am you. This episode is for you. And I promise you, we’re not just going to talk about the problem. We’re going to talk about real solutions.

The Burnout Crisis

MELISSA NICHOLSON: Let’s start with where we actually are. Because the numbers are stunning.

A McKinsey study found that 76% of workers say they’re more stressed than they were two years ago. Seventy-six percent. That’s more than three-quarters of the workforce.

A Deloitte report from mid-2025 showed that working women’s mental health was deteriorating, with 50% reporting higher stress levels than the previous year. Half of all working women.

And here’s what really puts a bee in my bonnet: A Deloitte study found that the number one reason workers experience burnout isn’t personal issues or life stress—which we have so much life stress—it’s unmanageable workloads. The structure of work itself is breaking people.

Women are driving a stunning surge—around 70% of all mental health leaves in the past year. Seventy percent. Oh my God, Seventy percent. If you put anything on LinkedIn in a post, put this: Women are driving 70% of all mental health leaves in the past year. In the past year. We are drowning.

Women are drowning at twice the rate of men. McKinsey’s Women in the Workplace report shows that women, especially mid-career moms, are leaving the workforce in record numbers. Not because we don’t want to work, but because the way that work is structured is unsustainable.

The Mental Load

Now, let’s talk about the mental load—that invisible cognitive labor that women still overwhelmingly carry, even right now in 2025.

Research from late 2024 and mid-2025 shows mothers still shoulder the vast majority of household cognitive labor. And I’m not just talking about doing the laundry or cooking dinner. I’m talking about remembering that your kid needs. I’m talking about remembering that your kid needs new cleats for soccer, scheduling dentist appointments, knowing when school picture day is, remembering to send in the permission slip, planning meals for the week, keeping track of everyone’s schedules, knowing when the dog needs his shots, remembering your mother-in-law’s birthday.

It’s the constant, never-ending mental checklist running in the background of your brain at all times. Even when you’re in a meeting at work. Even when you’re trying to sleep.

This invisible work leads to higher levels of depression, anxiety, and burnout. It’s exhausting.

And the rollback of remote work policies has been really detrimental. According to an August 2025 Fortune analysis, the loss of flexibility is forcing many mothers out of the workforce, reversing the gains in labor force participation seen during the pandemic.

For those with hybrid or remote arrangements, the lack of clear boundaries and the pressure to be constantly available exacerbate this burnout. The blurred lines between home and work make it difficult to truly disconnect and recharge. It’s one of the brilliant things about job sharing that I love so much. Its the ability to separate and prioritize your work and your life and keep the two separate.

There’s this “always-on” culture that’s absolutely toxic. You’re expected to respond to Slack messages at 9 p.m. You’re expected to check email on vacation. You’re expected to be available 24/7 at all times.

What’s NOT Working

Here’s what I need to say loud and clear: Employers, I see you trying. I really do. You’re offering wellness stipends, mental health days, meditation apps, Employee Assistance Programs.

But it’s not working. People are still burning out. They’re still leaving. They’re still struggling.

Why? Because you’re treating the symptoms, not the disease. This is what our country’s problem is. We are always treating the symptoms and not the disease.

A recent Lyra Health study found that 65% of U.S. workers report mental health challenges that interfere with their ability to work. But—and this is crucial—only 25% said their employer’s mental health resources were actually helpful.

Think about that for a second. Three-quarters of struggling employees are saying, “Thanks, but no thanks. It’s not helping.”

Many of us have done the work since the pandemic forced us to prioritize our mental health in ways we never had before. We got our teens into therapy. We found our own support. We took up running just to cope. Like, sometimes, I was throwing on my buds and running down the street in my neighborhood at a record pace. We learned what we need.

And what we need isn’t another mindfulness app. What we need is sustainable work structures.

The disease is that we’ve built a work culture that expects superhuman performance from humans. We expect people to be always on, always available, always producing at peak capacity. We’ve created roles so complex and demanding that one person can’t sustainably handle them—but we just keep acting like they should.

Another reason that job sharing is so brilliant because our roles are so complex that one person can’t bring all of those skill sets to one position. It’s so great to have two completely different skill sets coming in.

What Working Mothers Are Doing

So what are working mothers doing to combat this? Because we’re not just sitting back and accepting burnout. Like, we’d be dead if we did. Women are taking proactive, and sometimes drastic, measures:

Setting hard boundaries. Many are creating firm divisions between work and home. Refusing to respond to emails after a certain hour. Designating “no-work” weekends—and good for them!. Communicating these boundaries clearly to colleagues and managers. Sometimes I wonder if they’re listening.

Intentionally delegating. Mothers are delegating more household and parenting tasks to partners, older children, and paid services. when they can afford to. Some are using frameworks like Eve Rodsky’s Fair Play to systematically divide labor and distribute the cognitive load. If you haven’t read Fair Play or played the card game, I highly recommend them.

Building support networks. Working moms are connecting with other parents through employee resource groups, online forums like our Job Share, Live Life & Slay Work Facebook community, and local communities. In person ones too. This helps combat feelings of isolation and provides a space to vent and share practical, real-life solutions that are helping them.

Prioritizing mental health support. Increasing numbers of working mothers are accessing therapy and wellness apps to manage stress and anxiety. And real-life therapy. Some utilize online platforms like BetterHelp for convenient and affordable access to mental health professionals.

Practicing “radical acceptance.” Many mothers are actively shedding perfectionist tendencies—those ones that we see all over Instagram—you know them, I know them too, we just talked about the tradwife; that’s definitely one of them—and instead, these moms are embracing a “good enough” approach to managing their multiple roles. Like, a B+ approach is good enough. They’d rather be good at home than good in their jobs. Like, they want to be good at their jobs but sometimes their B+ work is really, quite honestly the rest of workforce’s A+ work. They are letting go of unrealistic expectations and learning to accept that not every task needs to be executed flawlessly.

And you know what? That last one is really hard. Especially for high-achieving women. We’re used to excellence, right? We’re so used to our perfectionistic ways and doing things right. Because that’s how we got ahead in school, that’s how we got ahead in our jobs. That’s like what we learned. We had to be the first to raise our hands. So, learning to let go of that? It’s really hard, it’s work.

What Employers Should Do

What actually moves the needle? What employers should be doing: If you are a people leader or if you are a leader, here are three critical actions that you should be doing in your workplace:

First, protect time for deep work. Schedule days without meetings. Set policies that allow people to skip meetings where they aren’t essential. Cancel meetings and send update emails instead. Use Loom. The reason moms are working at 4 a.m. and 10 p.m. is because it’s the only time they have to think. Women are saddled with more non-promotable work than men, and it eats into their time for focused work. Don’t make women the ones in charge of all of the non-paid ERGs at work, okay? Let’s make that more of a non-gendered thing.

Second, give actual grace. Build trust and establish a line of communication so strong that the moms on your team can be honest about what’s going on in their personal lives. That means that you have to be open to having that two-way street. Because if you haven’t noticed, the workplace isn’t so healthy right now. Like people aren’t doing okay, and they need that. When mothers feel like there is no wiggle room, it sets an impossible standard and you will lose your best employees. By giving grace along the way, you get a more engaged, loyal, committed employee. Makes sense, right?

A mom or parent should never feel nervous to tell a leader about something that is totally normal—a sick kid, a school play during working hours, a day without childcare. How can you build that trust?

Third, implement real flexibility—not performative wellness initiatives. So many companies offer performative “wellness” initiatives without really addressing the underlying causes of burnout. Yoga classes and fruit in the break room…those are nice, but they don’t solve unmanageable workloads. And that’s what you need to get to. Focus on sustainable work structures, including exploring job sharing.

How Job Sharing Fundamentally Supports Mental Health

Let me tell you why job sharing isn’t just another flexible work option. The structure of job sharing naturally supports mental health while delivering the business results that you need. It’s not just another flexible work option—it’s mental health infrastructure.

Let me share five ways job sharing fundamentally supports mental health:

First, real recovery time. Job sharers get four consecutive days off every week, typically. Not weekend recovery that gets interrupted by Sunday scaries and Monday prep. Real, protected time to rest, recharge, return to work enthusiastic, excited. They can attend to things that affect their wellness like therapy, exercise, sleep, and remembering that they’re a human being, and not just a productivity machine.

I cannot overstate how transformative this is. During my years job sharing, I had time to actually go to acting classes. To serve on a nonprofit board that I was so passionate about. And become a very valuable member of my community. To be present at my kids’ school events. I had time to remember who I was outside of being an employee and a mom.

Second, sustainable workloads. Instead of one person carrying an impossible load, two people bring complementary strengths to share it. The work gets done—often better—without breaking anyone in the process.

Think about it. We’ve designed jobs that are legitimately too big for one person. Multiple stakeholders, complex projects, constant deadlines. When you split that between two capable professionals, suddenly it becomes easily manageable.

Third, a built-in support system. Your job share partner becomes your professional lifeline. When life throws you a curveball—and it always does. It always does; it happened in every job share I had. Somebody’s parent was in the hospital. Somebody’s teen was facing a crisis.  You don’t have to face it alone.

This includes, like, all of the crazy things going on in the world that affect human beings when they come into the workplace or big shifts and changes in the workplace. So, when people are really struggling at work because there’s a lot of change going on, and they want that stability…When you have job share partners, they’re in it together, and they let all of that fall off of them. They are literally in a protective shield. So those curveballs, your partner steps in, they’ve got your back, and you don’t have to choose between your job and your life.

I remember one of my job share partners telling me about a family emergency she had to handle. She didn’t have to worry about work falling apart because I had it. It was having a real toll and effect, and I was able to step in and say, “You just take this time off. I’ve got it for a couple of weeks here full-time. No worries.” And when she came back, I would leave the small tasks for her, and I would handle the higher-level things. And then, we eased her back in, and it was a lifesaver for her. That’s happened in every partnership that I’ve had, in all four. And I’ve been the recipient as well. When I needed her? She was there for me, too. That partnership is everything.

Fourth, cognitive load sharing. You get two minds, two skill sets, two lived experiences tackling complex problems. The mental burden of decision-making, problem-solving, and innovation gets shared instead of overwhelming one person.

And that one overlapping day each week when you’re both working, or that overlapping time each week during the handover period, when you are both working? That handover day? Oh my gosh, the synergy. It’s crazy. You are jamming through projects together, brainstorming solutions, dividing and conquering to get twice as much done. You’re on fire and everybody in your orbit sees it.

Fifth, growth without burnout.  You level up faster because you are learning from someone who is completely vested in your success. It is so reciprocal. It is so much dual accountability. And they want to teach you. You want to learn from them. And everybody has their strengths and their weaknesses. So, it’s like you level up and you become skilled in areas that you never would have.

And here’s the proof that this legitimately works: 96% of job sharers cite they have the flexibility needed for work-life balance. Ninety-six percent. Compare that to traditional flexible work arrangements, where employees still struggle with boundaries and burnout—those are typically in the seventieth percentile or less. That includes working remotely. Working remotely is brilliant, but there’s not a lot of training around boundaries around it.

According to The Job Share Project, 87% of job sharers say that job sharing was the difference between staying and leaving their company. That’s the retention solution employers have been looking for.

That’s the biggest cost to employers. The cost of turnover and then finding the next person. The loss of institutional knowledge, relationships, and know-how. That’s the biggest cost. And then, ramping that person up, and what’s lost in the process.

If nine out of ten people who job share are staying and have lifetime loyalty—I know I did, I’m raising my hand right here; I intended to stay at my job five years, and I ended up being there ten years, nine of which I was job sharing. And it was most definitely because of the job share.

Job Sharing Meets Working Moms Where They Are

Now, let me connect this specifically to how job sharing meets working mothers, where they are in squashing burnout:

Setting hard boundaries. Simply working in a job share sets boundaries for your time off without saying a word. The structure of the job share means continuous coverage while you rest, recharge, and return renewed every single week. You’re not burning out because you actually have time to recover.

I never felt burnout while job sharing. Never ever. There were plenty of other work challenges: I had eight bosses in the ten years—bosses who didn’t immediately get job sharing, navigating new systems. But burnout? Never.

Intentionally delegating? I always say Fair Play is the home version of job sharing. But the truth is, job sharing leads to Fair Play at home without ever having to read the book or play the game.

It’ll be so easy to give up control and trust your parenting partner to lean into unpaid labor, parenting, and even the mental load when you’ve already been trained in working this way in your job share at work. You’ve learned to trust, to let go, to accept different ways of doing things that still get to the same outcome.

That’s a big struggle for people who are high achievers when they start job sharing, but they quickly learn that they need them. And they’ve learned how to do it and let go of the crap that’s holding onto us that we’ve been socialized into.

Job sharers are masters at delegating. And younger dads today are into it! They want to lean into parenting. They want flexibility, too. Let’s empower them to have that time with their children. Men should be able to job share, too. We will all be better for it.

Building support networks? Your job share partner is your built-in support network, your work bestie. You know, your BFF, your work BFF. The person who will step in first when they see you teetering toward burnout, and they’re going to insist that you take a break, take time off, and get good inside. They’re gonna be like, “Step back. Go do this thing.”

Prioritizing mental health support? Job sharing actually gives you time for getting out in nature, focusing on your health and wellness, having time alone,  and actually having time for therapy. It’s your time to get back to yourself before you’re in crisis mode.

Practicing “radical acceptance?” Most people who come to job sharing do so because they are A-list go-getters. Half-assers aren’t into this practice because the increased communication, accountability, and productivity of job sharing is made for rule-follower first kids who are ready for the high marks, but who don’t have to be patted on the back constantly reassured that they are doing an amazing job.

But here’s the thing: Job sharing helps us! It helps us let go. It helps us give up control, lean into our partners, doing things differently than us, and being okay with that. It helps us accept that our standard is not the only standard. I feel like I just went to a recovery meeting for perfectionists! But it’s good for us and helps us embrace “good enough” B+ work, knowing one plus one equals three, and that ultimately together we’ll achieve the A+.

Personal Story

You know, I’m thinking back to Episode 42 that we did earlier this year on mental health at work. I talked about how many of us have done the work—therapy, boundaries, self-care. We’ve learned what we need.

And what we need isn’t another mindfulness app or a meditation subscription. What we need is work structures that actually support our well-being.

During my nine years of job sharing, I was able to be fully present in my three work days—laser-focused, super creative, and energized. And on my four days off, I was actually off. Like, I wasn’t checking email from the carpool line. I was out there, like, living life. Enjoying it. Like fully able to disrobe from my work-self. It was a little Severance-y. I’m going to be honest. It was a little bit like Severance. I felt very unaffected in my personal life. My work-life did not bring me down the other four days of the week. It really didn’t. I was able to completely compartmentalize.

That structure saved me from burnout. I mean, it allowed me to sustain an overly demanding career. The media industry is not kind to human beings, and radio is insane. And it is really cutthroat. It’s hard.  I was just able to raise my kids and stay connected to who I was as a person. Me. And I think it helped in everything because I wasn’t putting on another coat at work. Like, I was myself, my true self, at work. The structure was everything to me.

And when I think about my daughter who has just started her freshman year of college, and my son who’s right behind her—I am so grateful for those years. I was there. I didn’t miss it because I was burnt out and barely functioning.

The Business Case

Now, I want to talk to my people leaders and my HR professionals listening in: You’re facing a retention crisis, you know you are. There’s a productivity crisis and a talent acquisition crisis. And all three are happening at once. You are being asked to do more with less while supporting a workforce that is not okay.

Brenè Brown even said it. I saw it last week. She works with leaders all the time. She said, “People out there are not okay.”

Job sharing isn’t just compassionate—it’s strategic for you.

When PwC analyzed their job sharing program, they found job share teams consistently outperformed individual contributors on client satisfaction and project outcomes.

The cost of doing nothing is enormous—not just in turnover and recruitment costs, but in the talent. The top talent that you’re losing to companies that get it.

What if instead of trying to fix broken people, you fixed the broken structures? What if you let go of the outdated belief that face time equals commitment? You know it penalizes so many people who are marginalized—people with disabilities, people from military families, and definitely women who are primary caregivers.

What if you embraced a model that has worked for nearly five decades—since the early seventies, that was originated in the U.S.—but is one of the least utilized, most innovative, and definitely more urgent than ever, given our mental health crisis?

Closing

So let me wrap this up for you. The mental load and burnout are not just “working mom problems, ” They’re systemic problems with systemic solutions. We can change this.

For employers: Protect deep work time. Give real grace. Implement actual flexibility, not performative wellness. Consider job sharing pilots for your most demanding roles.

For working mothers: Set boundaries unapologetically. You got this. Delegate intentionally. Build your support networks. Prioritize your mental health. And seriously explore job sharing if you haven’t already.

The structure of job sharing provides real recovery time, sustainable workloads, built-in support, cognitive load sharing, and growth without burnout. That’s not a band-aid. That’s real, sustainable change.

When we started this series, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that 212,000 women had left the workforce in the first seven months of 2025. But the BLS’s most recent data from October reveals it’s far worse—450,000 women have left the workforce in 2025. We need real solutions, not just wellness apps and mental health days.

Next episode, we’re tackling the persistent motherhood penalty—how mothers still face systemic bias despite all our progress, and how job sharing helps women bypass it entirely.

If this episode resonated with you, if you’re feeling that burnout and mental load, and you know so many of your friends are, please share it with someone who needs to hear it. And take care of yourself this week. Really. Your well-being matters.

Remember, friend—it’s all in you. I’m sending you so much love. I’ll see you Tuesday after next, same time, same place. Bye for now!