The burden of leadership today, especially for women, comes with serious mental and physical health concerns. In a time marked by job insecurity, ethical strain, and heightened expectations of emotional labor, women leaders are navigating extraordinary pressure.

Many are leading through environments shaped by unpredictable workforce cuts, forced decisions that conflict with their values, and the invisible but constant task of supporting others' emotional needs. This combination has created a quiet crisis for women in leadership.

Across the U.S., layoffs are dominating headlines. According to a recent CNN Politics report, more than 120,000 federal workers have been laid off or targeted for layoffs as of April 28.

Our region is no exception. In Washington state, about 1,000 federal employees were laid off by March, which is double the number from the year before. These cuts are part of the Trump administration's broad effort to reduce federal spending and shrink the workforce.

In Spokane, we have felt those losses deeply. One significant example is the complete elimination of the workforce at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Spokane Research Laboratory. This is just one illustration of the broader and growing impact these federal cuts are having across our region. This closure shut down one of the few national hubs for mining safety research, seismic monitoring, and worker health protections across critical sectors like agriculture, forestry, and oil and gas.

Layoffs carry a deep psychological and physical toll. The affected employees and their families face acute and chronic stress. But the burden doesn’t stop there. Leadership tasked with carrying out these decisions often faces significant emotional strain, particularly those who feel powerless to change the outcome.

Research confirms that job insecurity, even the persistent fear of job loss, is linked to serious health consequences, including depression, anxiety, cardiovascular issues, and increased absenteeism.

Dr. Stacy Keogh, professor and associate director of Whitworth University's marriage and family therapy graduate program, explains that chronic stress, including that from job insecurity, can impact a person's mental health negatively, which can lead to anxiety, depression, and insomnia, to name a few. 

"These, in turn, impact our relationships, families, and even work environments,” says Keogh.

This instability weighs even more heavily on women in leadership. While all leaders may carry emotional burdens during times of disruption, women are often expected to serve as emotional anchors for others as well.

Decades of research, including publications in Harvard Business Review and Journal of Applied Psychology, shows that employees perceive female leaders as more empathetic and emotionally intelligent. While these traits are assets in many circumstances, they come with hidden costs in times of crisis.

Female leaders often become default sounding boards, absorbing additional emotional weight from others while managing their own stress. As one federal scientist in Spokane, who asked to remain anonymous due to restrictions on public comment, says, "Being a woman, I think most of my younger staff have felt more comfortable talking through their personal difficulties, supporting their families, finding a new job, etc., with me instead of our male supervisors. I totally welcome this, but it's draining."

When leaders are expected to carry the emotional impact of decisions they didn’t make and can’t control, the result is often moral injury.

Moral injury refers to the psychological and emotional distress that arises when someone is involved in or witnesses actions that conflict with their deeply held values. For leaders, this can happen when they are asked to rank or terminate team members, enforce decisions they don’t agree with, or watch entire programs dismantled without input.

The same federal scientist described one particularly distressing moment. 

"At one point, my boss and I had 15 minutes to rank our staff, assuming we could keep the top so many people," she says. "I took three of those 15 minutes to vomit. Ultimately, our rankings weren't used and they just fired everyone anyhow. It added insult to injury, like why even bother asking and making us go through that terrible exercise?"

The physical toll of moral injury is real. It can cause sleep disturbances, a weakened immune system, and even cardiovascular issues such as hypertension. The psychological impact can be equally severe, with elevated risks of depression, anxiety, and long-term burnout.

Keogh says, "In extreme cases, workplace environments that are stressful due to the looming threat of job loss or the emotional burden of carrying that fear for others can actually lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, resulting in women losing their jobs due to responding to these conditions."

So, what can individuals and organizations do to better support women leaders under this weight?

1. Acknowledge emotional labor and celebrate contributions. Recognize that women often carry invisible responsibilities beyond their formal job description. Acknowledge and appreciate this work openly. Even small gestures can have a big impact.

2. Support reasonable boundaries. Provide flexibility in scheduling. Encourage time to recharge, protect against burnout, and respect leaders when they say no.

3. Communicate with transparency. When possible, be clear and timely in communication about organizational changes. Uncertainty breeds unnecessary anxiety and misinformation.

4. Check in with intent. Ask women leaders how they are doing, not just what they are working on. Make space for honest conversations.

5. Share the emotional load. Avoid placing all emotional support and crisis management responsibilities on women leaders. Distribute this work more equitably among team members.

The current landscape is challenging. Through intentional action, we can better support women leaders in the full scope of their roles.

Robin Pickering is a professor and chair of Public Health at the Gonzaga University School of Health Sciences.