The hidden cost of workplace upheaval is taking a devastating toll on Black women. In 2025, sweeping corporate mass layoffs of more than 300,000 Black women combined with systemic Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) budget cuts created an unprecedented mental health crisis for Black female professionals. Behind the corporate restructuring headlines lies an unseen burnout epidemic—fueled by job insecurity, loss of psychological safety, and diminished workplace support systems.
A recent report by The Nation offers a window into the psychological burden job loss has placed on Black women, featuring an interview with Darnese Foster, a single mother who was fired by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in February 2025.
According to the report, since being laid off by DOGE, Foster has submitted hundreds of job applications over the past year, only to face repeated rejections. Responsible for raising a 10-year-old daughter—and forced to rely on financial help from her mother and 23-year-old daughter to stay afloat—Foster says her confidence has been deeply shaken during this period of unemployment.
“I feel like I’m almost 50 and I’m way behind. I don’t have a life insurance policy to leave my kids. No savings,” she told The Nation. “It weighs heavy for me as a mother.”
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It is not just Foster who is struggling with anxiety during these times. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the employment rate for Black women fell by 1.4 percentage points to 55.7% in 2025. Given that 80% of Black mothers are the primary breadwinners in their families, according to Forbes, these unemployment figures place the financial stress of providing for households squarely on the shoulders of millions of Black women.
A 2022 study in Women’s Health Reports found that Black women suffered from more psychological stress than their White counterparts, with the leading causes pointing to concerns about their children’s safety, raising Black children, being the head of the household, and financial hardship. The study also highlighted how chronic stress prevents many Black women from prioritizing self-care, leading to lower rates of physical activity and increased fast-food consumption—factors that directly contribute to alarming health outcomes like obesity.
Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Raquel Martin told The Nation that unemployment and the psychological burdens that come with it can leave a person traumatized.
“When an experience overwhelms your ability to cope, and it leaves this lasting impact on your sense of self, safety, and sense of the world around you, that’s trauma,” Martin said. “Trauma is not only what happens to you, it’s also what happens inside of you, when you’re repeatedly forced to adapt to conditions that threaten your safety or your dignity or your humanity or your ability to thrive.”
Martin added that people in Foster’s position can experience a low tolerance for minor daily stresses, leaving them feeling constantly irritable and prepared to “flip a table” over even the smallest issues.
For now, Foster is relying on her community and faith to keep her afloat during this difficult period. However, resilience alone is not enough for her—or for the hundreds of thousands of Black women confronting the real-life mental toll hidden behind statistics after being forced out of the workforce, submitting endless job applications, and facing repeated rejections.
