Change projects have become an everyday feature of company life, but frequent change often brings fatigue, confusion and mistakes in management. A new international study* by Emergn reveals a significant contradiction: although change is necessary if companies are to remain competitive, implementing it often overloads the very people who have to deliver it, with 50% of employees reporting that they are experiencing transformation fatigue.
The study “The Global Intelligent Delusion” was carried out across 751 global organisations and reveals a group of employees who feel tired, confused and increasingly dissatisfied with the constant changes being introduced without clarity.
Transformation is compulsory, fatigue is the price
82% of the study's respondents believe that transformation is necessary in order to stay competitive (last year – 70%). However, 50% say they are experiencing transformation fatigue, while 44% believe that the pace of change is too high. 45% have experienced burnout because of constant change, and 36% are considering changing jobs precisely because of this relentless change.
Artificial intelligence is making the situation worse rather than better – more than half (55%) of respondents believe that AI initiatives accelerate transformation fatigue.
“Too many companies confuse activity with progress. Transformation should not break people – its aim is to develop competencies. But at the moment we are seeing exactly the opposite. This is no longer just a management problem, it is a business model problem. Organisations are trying to introduce new technologies without making sure people are prepared to sustain them over the long term. That is not digital transformation – it is digital fatigue,” says Aldis Ērglis, head of “Emergn Latvia”.
It is time to rethink change before the talent leaves
The study reveals that organisations are moving towards change without bringing people along with them: 31% of employees feel uninformed about the goals of transformation (last year – 25%), 42% believe they received insufficient training during the changes, and 41% believe that management mistakes directly contributed to failure. 37% say that bringing in external consultants created additional complications without any clarity. These figures reveal a gap in trust and a growing sense that transformation is something done to people rather than with people.
Transformation fatigue is not just a people problem, it is a risk factor for how an organisation operates. Companies that fail to take account of the emotional and operational burden created by constant change will lose talent, momentum and, ultimately, competitiveness.
“There is no point in initiatives that leave the team exhausted and disappointed,” stresses A. Ērglis. “If change within a company is continuous, then clear communication and support for employees must be just as continuous. Otherwise we are simply giving burnout a new name.”
*Emergn's 2025 study “Global Intelligent Delusion” was carried out by Censuswide, surveying 751 global organisations. The survey involved chief executive officers (CEOs), chief technology officers (CTOs), chief operating officers (COOs) and other employees involved in operational change, with at least five years' experience at companies employing more than 1,000 people and with an annual turnover exceeding USD 500 million.
About Emergn
Emergn is a global digital business services company whose mission is to improve the way people and companies work over the long term. Emergn works with internationally recognised companies, including Fortune 500, FTSE 100 and Global 2000 firms, to help them move from a project-based approach to a product-oriented operating model – creating, developing and delivering their products and services more effectively. One essential aspect of this process is developing the competencies of company teams using the proven Value, Flow, Quality (VFQ) approach.
VFQ is the methodological foundation and guiding principle of Praxis, through which Emergn has for almost two decades provided in-depth consultancy, technological solutions and professional development opportunities to hundreds of global companies.