Ensono Speak Up 2026: 87% of women in tech report burnout

Women working in technology in India are more likely than their peers in the United States and the United Kingdom to say that caregiving makes office attendance hard, according to Speak Up 2026, a survey released on Thursday, 5 November 2026 by Ensono, a technology services company. The survey, the company's sixth annual one, questioned 1,500 full-time, female-identifying technology professionals across the US, the UK and India. It found that 87% of them report at least some level of burnout, and 60% describe themselves as moderately, very or extremely burned out. Among Indian respondents, 61% named balancing caregiving with work as a challenge of being in the office in person, against 46% in the US and 39% in the UK.

The survey puts numbers on a familiar tension: work tools are getting faster, but expectations and duties at home have not shrunk. Respondents rated their own skills highly. According to the company, 70% described their generative AI knowledge as advanced or expert, and the share calling themselves experts has doubled since the 2024 survey. Yet four in ten said the time saved by AI has been turned into a demand for more output, not into breathing room.

The return to the office adds a second layer. More than half said their employer now asks for more days on site than a year ago, and almost everyone surveyed believes that being seen in person helps a career. That is where the Indian figures stand out. Indian respondents were the most likely of the three countries to call caregiving a problem in attending the office, and the most likely to believe strongly that face time decides promotions.

Country breakdowns of the report also show Indian respondents reporting the highest AI confidence, the strongest employer support and the greatest leadership ambition of the three groups.

Some limits need stating. The survey was commissioned by a company, not run by a public body, and it describes the women who answered, not the whole technology workforce of any country. It does not give burnout figures country by country, it has no comparison group of men, and it does not show that AI or office mandates cause burnout.

Peepals calculation: In India, 61% of respondents named caregiving as an office-attendance challenge against 46% in the US, a gap of 15 percentage points, so Indian respondents were about 1.3 times as likely to report it (61 ÷ 46 ≈ 1.33); against the UK figure of 39%, the gap is 22 points (61 − 39 = 22). Separately, if 87% report some burnout and 60% report moderate or worse burnout, then about 27% of all respondents described only mild burnout (87 − 60 = 27). Our calculation from the reported figures.

Short-term: The findings arrive as many technology employers in India and abroad are tightening office attendance rules. Caregiving pressure was the leading challenge across all three countries, which suggests a shared experience rather than an individual one.

Long-term: If faster work through AI keeps turning into higher targets, and promotion keeps depending on being physically present, the women most tied to care at home may find advancement harder to reach, even as 83% say they want executive roles. Ensono's own recommendations to employers are to pair AI productivity gains with realistic performance expectations, flexible workplace policies and time set aside for learning.

Who is affected: Women in technology jobs, especially those in India who combine office work with care for children or parents, and the managers and HR teams who set attendance rules and performance targets.

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