What I Learned About Burnout the Hard Way (and How to Actually Fix it)
I spent years in law enforcement watching good people leave the profession. It wasn’t because they stopped caring about the mission of the organizations, but because the weight of the work and perceived lack of support eventually became too much to carry. The burnout didn’t happen dramatically, but quietly and slowly over time. By the time it was obvious to colleagues, the damage of that burnout was already done.
This experience shaped how I think about protecting the people who work in high-stakes environments like security, and it’s something that I carry with me in my current role. Because in security operations, the burnout problem many organizations face hasn’t gone away (and in some cases, it has gotten worse).
The data backs this up. According to a 2024 survey by Police1, more than 53% of active police officers report experiencing burnout during their careers. A 2021 University of Portsmouth study found that 40% of security workers were suffering from PTSD or other mental health conditions. As security leaders, these are the colleagues, officers, and operators/analysts we’re responsible for.
The good news is that burnout can be manageable if you’re willing to treat it as an operational priority and not just an afterthought.
Burnout doesn’t announce itself
When I was in law enforcement, we didn’t talk about mental health much. This was in large part a cultural thing, where you kept it together, you moved onto the next call, your next case, your next protective detail, your next office or assignment. Over time, I started recognizing the quiet signs in others: the officer who stopped caring and stopped engaging with the crew, the one who was normally flexible who became super rigid in his actions, and the one who never wanted to go home.
These signs weren’t personality quirks, they were signals indicating something deeper was going on. Burnout often shows up as emotional numbness or reduced reaction to events that would have once sparked a response. More physical symptoms can include headaches, disrupted sleep, and frequent sick days that don’t have obvious explanations. Increasing withdrawal is another big warning sign, like arriving late, leaving early, going quiet in team meetings when you would otherwise be actively engaged.
The mistake that I’ve seen a lot of managers make is waiting for some kind of crisis to take any action. By then, you’ve already lost. A better approach is learning to read the early signs and building a culture where people feel safe enough to surface them.
The operator challenge: volume, repetition, and invisible stress
In a security operations center, burnout doesn’t usually come from a single traumatic event. It can accumulate. Operators are managing dozens of systems, juggling hundreds of alerts, and making real-time judgements for hours at a time. The load this places on their cognitive abilities is enormous. I vividly remember going onsite to one prospective customer and having a GSOC operator tell me, “The alarms never stop, so instead, we… just stopped.”
According to the AI SOC Market Landscape 2025 report, organizations face an average of 960 security alerts daily, with enterprises seeing 3,000. Another study in the cybersecurity space from Trend Micro found that 54% of SOC teams felt overwhelmed by alerts, and security analysts spend 27% of their time processing false alarms. That’s not a staffing problem, it’s an operational one.
One of the most meaningful interventions I’ve seen is identifying where technology can absorb the repetitive load that these positions manage. Automating routine tasks, such as alert triaging, incident logging, SOP guidance, and more, can mean protecting the operator. When analysts spend less time on repetitive, mechanical work, they have more bandwidth for the judgement calls that actually require their expertise in the heat of the moment. These repetitive, highly manual tasks are one of the most cited drivers of burnout, which means automation isn’t a luxury for these teams, but a retention strategy.
What managers can do immediately
Beyond technology, people who feel seen and supported show up differently. Whether you’re running a field team or a 24-hour operations center, the fundamentals are the same:
Watch for the signs (and name them)
When you notice someone becoming unusually rigid, withdrawing from the team, or showing up physically but not mentally, don’t wait for it to resolve on its own. Pull them aside privately. Ask what they need, not just how they’re doing. The distinction matters. And them knowing you see a problem and want to help matters.
Make space for breaks (and mean it)
Long shifts in high-stakes environments are draining in ways that don’t always show up until well after the damage is done. Encouraging operators to take full advantage of their earned vacation time, getting them out of the GSOC when possible to disrupt the monotonous routine, and making sure they’re able to fully disconnect on breaks are all ways to help in the day-to-day. Snacks, drinks, a couch to sit on and unplug – these little things go a long way.
Give agency when you can
Allowing security officers to have agency in decision making in the department and, more broadly, in the organization, can help build and maintain morale. When you’re in a GSOC environment doing a “wash, rinse, repeat” task that leaves no room for creativity or thinking, it can be draining. Understanding that and opening up the ability to allow for more proactive, critical work that moves the program forward can help stave off this cycle of burnout that plagues operations teams.
Understand the whole person
Stressors outside of work can compound what’s happening when they’re sitting in the SOC seat. Things like personal losses, family pressures, health issues, and more can take its toll even in the best of circumstances. Being a good leader in this field means having enough emotional intelligence to recognize when someone needs support that goes beyond the job.
Foster transparency and respect
Being a good leader is about fostering an environment where security officers can provide transparent discourse without repercussions through respectful communication (and with the goal of solutions and desired outcomes for challenges they face). Teams that feel psychologically safe enough to flag problems early recover faster and perform better. When hostility or dissatisfaction takes root and goes unaddressed, it erodes not just morale but operational effectiveness. A 2025 study by Mind Share Partners found that 48% of U.S. employees have left a job for reasons tied to their mental health, with two-thirds of those departures voluntary. Retention starts with culture.
Connect people to real resources
Know what mental health support your organization offers, and advocate for more if necessary. Counseling services, Employee Assistance Programs, or access to meditation or mindfulness tools can have positive benefits. More importantly, supporting their use across the team can normalize the behavior.
Creating a way forward
I’ve seen what this profession can take from people when we don’t pay attention. I’ve also seen what happens when leaders treat mental health as a genuine priority. These teams become more resilient, more effective, and more willing to fulfill the mission of the organization.
We ask security officers and operators to be sharp, responsive, and composed under pressure, but we also have to be willing to make sure they’re supported by building environments where they can actually sustain that standard.
