Most marketers feel overwhelmed, undervalued and emotionally exhausted
Despite the toll on their mental health, two-fifths of marketers would not tell their manager if they felt undervalued or exhausted, Marketing Week data reveals.
Almost two-thirds (65.3%) of marketers have felt overwhelmed in their role over the past 12 months. This has left a further 60.7% feeling undervalued and over half (55.1%) emotionally exhausted, with a significant chunk suggesting they are not able to confide in a manager or the wider business about their situation.
This is according to Marketing Week’s 2026 Career & Salary Survey, which also finds 53.4% of marketers are no longer enjoying work that used to engage them and 53.3% now have a detached or negative attitude. Some 47.7% of the 2,350 respondents (including partials) have also felt a sense of ineffectiveness over the past year.
If last year’s Career & Salary Survey revealed worrying levels of unhappiness within marketing, this year’s data exposes an industry on the cusp of burnout.
The level of distress is clear regardless of gender. Over two-thirds (68.2%) of female marketers have felt overwhelmed over the past 12 months, with 60.5% left feeling undervalued and 58.2% emotionally exhausted.
Over half (53.4%) of the female marketers surveyed are finding less enjoyment in their work or have a detached/negative attitude (52.7%), while a sense of ineffectiveness is felt by 47.4%.
Some 61% of male marketers have felt undervalued over the past 12 months, with more than half feeling overwhelmed (57%), grappling with a detached/negative attitude (54.6%) and lacking enjoyment in their work (52.8%). Nearly half of this male sample feel a general sense of ineffectiveness (48.5%) and are emotionally exhausted (45.9%).
For the first time we have analysed the experience of working parents to get a sense of the pressure this cohort of leaders are under. The data finds almost two-thirds (65%) of working mums feel overwhelmed, while well over half have felt undervalued (60.8%) and emotionally exhausted (56.6%) in the past year.
Half (50%) of mothers responding to the survey are finding less enjoyment in work that used to engage them, while a significant number are feeling detached (46.2%) and ineffective (42.7%).
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The sense of discontent is also high among fathers in marketing, 60.8% of whom feel undervalued. A further 60.2% of working dads have felt overwhelmed over the past year, with more than half (51.6%) expressing a lack of enjoyment in work that used to engage them.
Some 49.5% of fathers responding to the research feel detached, coupled with a sense of ineffectiveness (47.8%) and emotional exhaustion (46.8%).
Looking at the data by seniority, more than half of CMOs and marketing directors have felt overwhelmed (57.9%) and undervalued (54.4%) over the past year, with 50.9% reporting emotional exhaustion.
Over two-fifths (44%) of these senior marketers have found less enjoyment in their work over the past 12 months, while 40.6% feel ineffective and 40.3% detached.
The numbers are even higher when looking a layer down at the experience of senior managers/managers. Almost seven in 10 (67%) have felt overwhelmed during the past year, with 62.8% feeling undervalued and 57.8% reaching the point of emotional exhaustion.
Some 57% of senior managers/managers are finding less enjoyment in work that used to engage them, while 56.8% have developed a detached/negative attitude. Almost half (48.9%) of this cohort also feel a sense of ineffectiveness.
Culture of silence
Despite the worryingly high levels of distress uncovered by the 2026 Career & Salary Survey data, more than two-fifths (42.5%) of the total sample don’t feel like they can tell their manager or the wider business how they are feeling.
Some 43.1% of male marketers and 42.2% of their female counterparts would not be prepared to confide in anyone about their mental health. These figures rise to 44.9% of working mums and 42.9% of working dads who would avoid talking to their manager or team about their feelings.
Almost half (44%) of CMOs and marketing directors wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing their mental health with the business, nor would 41.2% of senior managers/managers.
While there are many reasons listed as to why marketers are not open to talking, common themes emerge. Some respondents fear speaking up could risk their job security and jeopardise their position. Others are concerned it might look like they can’t cope, are “weak” or “not in control”. Convinced they would be judged unfairly, some marketers are scared discussing their experience could hinder progression.
One respondent disclosed they had been pulled up by their manager for not being on their “A game” days after their father’s funeral. Others point out there is always someone “waiting to take over” if you express any dissatisfaction and there is a sense they “should be grateful” for having a job at all.
Some respondents feel silenced by the constant need to demonstrate marketing’s worth. One marketer reports feeling like they can’t complain, because they are under pressure to “maintain a good perception of marketing within the business and prove its value”.
Marketing Week will be exploring marketing’s burnout crisis and intensifying imposter syndrome in a series of features over the coming weeks.
