Blue Monday is Proof that Sunday Scaries are Worse in January

We're all familiar with "Blue Monday" as the most depressing day of the year, but research by resume.io shows how the real workplace crisis happens the night before, when post-holiday anxiety peaks and the "that's a January problem" procrastination catches up with workers.

Resume.io's latest survey investigated how stress shapes career decisions and how widespread workplace anxiety really is in the U.S. today. The findings reveal that the Sundays before Monday aren't just stressful; they've become a turning point for whether employees stay or leave their jobs.

Key insights:

1. 1 in 7 U.S. professionals feel Sunday anxiety every week

2. Over a third (36.6%) have considered quitting a job because of it, and 11.7% already have

3. Entry-level workers are the most vulnerable to Sunday stress

4. For some, the stress starts long before Sunday evening as 7% say the anxiety kicks in as early as Saturday

5. Workload and deadlines (33.1%), burnout and exhaustion (23.6%), and unrealistic expectations (15.7%) are the top causes

6. Over two-fifths (42.2%) say their job negatively affects their mental health, and more than one in six (15.5%) describe that impact as significant

   
   

42.2% say work has an impact on their mental health, and 7% say anxiety begins on Saturday

Amanda Augustine, Certified Professional Career Coach and resident expert at resume.io, encourages workers to establish boundaries with managers as a way to protect their mental health in the post-holiday period:

"When employees experience significant stress during January without organizational support, it signals that the company doesn't genuinely care about their well-being. Employees should communicate their capacity limits clearly and ask for realistic deadlines post-holiday. Over time, without this support, stress erodes engagement, team morale, and retention. Employers need to demonstrate through concrete action, flexible return policies, delayed deadlines, and mental health resources, that employee health matters. In high-stress industries or competitive environments, January can feel like the breaking point. Workers are asking themselves, 'Does this organization value me enough to support me when I'm struggling?' If the answer feels like no, they're already updating their resumes."

The data backs this up. Workers who experience anxiety without support show measurable damage to their trust in leadership. 52% say their organization's lack of support has damaged their confidence in the company. More critically, 41.2% have considered quitting.

58% of Gen Z suffer from severe anxiety, as entry-level employees being the most affected 

Young professionals report the most acute anxiety on the Sunday before Blue Monday, with 58% describing it as severe. But rather than pushing through the crisis, 36.60% have considered quitting a job because of Sunday anxiety. They're not waiting for support; they're leaving.

Already the most vulnerable to Sunday anxiety year-round (nearly 1 in 5 feels it every Sunday), entry-level professionals face increased difficulties in January. Higher expectations, larger Delays and guilt over "wasted" holiday time create a uniquely toxic mental health situation, making January's post-holiday worktime especially harmful to mental health.

Anxiety is more common in men, but women are normalizing the suffering 

While both genders experience intensified post-holiday anxiety, women are significantly more likely to accept it, as expected. Over two-thirds (67%) of women say stress is just "part of the job," compared to 52% of men-masking the real cost to their mental health and career development.

The real Monday blues aren't about the third Monday in January. They're about every Sunday before a high-stress week, magnified ten times over in January. And employers who ignore that are going to lose people they can't afford to lose.

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Methodology: Survey was commissioned by resume.io and conducted via Pollfish on 2nd July 2025. A total of 1,000 full-time workers in America aged 18+, across a range of industries and seniority levels, participated.

About resume.io: Resume.io, a career.io brand, is an AI-powered resume builder designed to help job seekers create professional resumes and cover letters with ease. With over 30 recruiter-approved templates, AI-driven writing suggestions, and hundreds of job-specific examples, it simplifies the job search process. Users can generate cover letters, tailor resumes to match job descriptions, and download their documents in multiple formats, including PDF, Word, and Google Docs. Built for speed and efficiency, resume.io ensures resumes are ATS-friendly and optimized for success. Trusted by millions across 100+ countries, it offers more than just a resume builder—unlocking 18 powerful career tools to help professionals land their next opportunity faster. For more information, visit resume.io or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Amanda Augustine is the resident career expert for career.io’s suite of brands: TopResume, TopCV, resume.io, TopInterview, Careerminds, and Resume.ai. As a Certified Professional Career Coach (CPCC) and a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), she has spent more than 20 years helping professionals improve their careers and land the right job sooner. Connect with Amanda on LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Facebook.