Admin overload fuels Europe retention crisis
Employee retention and turnover remain a significant challenge for European organisations in 2026, with 15 hours a week lost to admin tasks outside core job roles, equivalent to two working days.
This administrative overload is a major driver of retention issues, with 14% of employees considering leaving their jobs due to the burden of repetitive, low-value tasks.
Retention strategies often focus on pay, benefits, and flexibility, but these are surface-level solutions that may not address the underlying issues of admin overload and inefficient processes.
Research shows that fewer than half of employees (43%) spend most of their day on value-adding work, with the rest consumed by repetitive, low-value tasks that offer little sense of progress or purpose.
Technology can help address this problem, but it can also exacerbate the issue if not implemented correctly, reinforcing existing disparities and introducing additional complexity.
Admin overload is a team-level issue that can become a wider organisational problem when low-value work builds up unevenly across teams, driving frustration and perceived unfairness.
18% of employees report that admin responsibilities cause tension within their team, highlighting the need for better visibility and accountability in how work is distributed across teams.
Leaders must take a holistic view of how work flows across teams to reduce admin overload and rebalance workloads, ensuring that time is spent on meaningful, value-adding activities.
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Organisations must respond quickly to address admin overload, which is already pushing 14% of employees to consider leaving their jobs.
This requires a conscious shift in how work is designed and supported day-to-day, starting with a clear view of where time is really being spent across the organisation.
Currently, there is a clear disconnect, with only 18% of workers feeling that their employer cares about admin overload, and a quarter believing it is underestimated.
By recognising the admin burden and working to build a clear picture of where it is most prominent, organisations can prioritise targeted changes that remove unnecessary steps and streamline decision-making.
Reducing admin overload requires a deliberate approach to both job design and technology, with organisations using AI to support how work actually happens.
By addressing admin overload directly, organisations can retain talent and make full use of their people’s skills, ultimately creating a better day-to-day work experience.
Small interventions, applied consistently, can have a disproportionate impact on how roles feel in practice, and technology should support this effort, not lead it.
