Brutal breakups causing over a third of Gen Z to take heartbreak leave from work
It seems Gen-Z has declared heartbreak as the next workplace taboo, and they're hellbent on breaking the stigma around it.
'I went through a brutal break-up last year and I just couldn't face work,' discloses 24-year-old Maya. The graphic designer from London confesses: 'I was crying constantly and trying to pretend I was fine on Zoom calls — it was exhausting. I ended up taking a few days off and honestly, I think it stopped me from burning out completely.'
And Maya isn't the only one. A recent survey by a dating app has unveiled that a third of Gen Z have taken leave from work to heal from a break up — a significantly higher proportion than any other generation. While heartbreak is a universal ordeal, a fresh poll indicates that younger generations are more prone to let it adversely affect their professional lives.
Dating app Wisp, which promotes face-to-face meetings, has discovered that Gen Z is spearheading a considerable shift in how personal heartbreak impacts the workplace, with a significant portion of them taking time off to recuperate from a relationship breakdown.
The experts say romantic distress should be acknowledged in the workplace — and to no one's surprise, Gen Z is reportedly at the forefront of pushing for greater emotional transparency.
The results are striking: 34% of Gen Z respondents aged 18-27 confessed to having taken leave from work specifically due to heartbreak. This statistic underscores a distinct generational contrast compared to their older colleagues.
Only 20% of Millennials (aged 28-43) reported doing the same, with the numbers dropping further down to 11% for Gen X (aged 44-59). As expected, a mere 7% of Baby Boomers (aged 60-78) took time off from their professional commitments to nurse a broken heart.
The results are in, and the data is clear: Gen Z is less likely to "power through" emotional distress at work. In total, 67% of all respondents confessed that break-ups negatively impact their productivity at work — with 38% admitting they had shed tears at work in front of colleagues post-breakup.
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Wisp's resident dating expert, Sylvia Linzalone, suggests the results reflect an increasing awareness of mental health — and the emotional burden romantic relationships can impose, particularly on younger individuals. Linzalone shares: "Gen Z has grown up with open conversations around wellbeing, and they're more in tune with the impact relationships have on their emotional landscape.
She says: "We talk a lot about sick days and stress leave, but heartache is a real, valid experience that can seriously derail someone's focus and confidence."
Wisp, a dating app centred on real-world connection and emotional intention, believes the findings demonstrate just how profoundly romantic relationships continue to shape our daily lives — even within the workplace.
"When your heart's on the floor, it's not always easy to sit through back-to-back meetings pretending everything's fine," Linzalone notes. "Taking time to process and recover isn't weakness — it's part of being human."
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