Emotional Exhaustion in Manufacturing Sector: A Systematic Review of Workplace Stressors and Cultural Erosion

Abstract

Work-related stress is becoming increasingly important in modern businesses, especially those that rely on manual labor, such as factories. The relationship between work pressure, the erosion of corporate culture, and emotional exhaustion has been relatively overlooked compared to the focus on individual sources of stress and burnout, which has been more prevalent in previous studies. This paper will provide an overview of the current body of knowledge in this area by conducting a systematic literature review to highlight existing gaps, uncover common themes, and summarize the essential findings.

The SLR process included selecting articles from peer-reviewed journals through databases like Google Scholar, Scopus, and the Web of Science. The selection process considered predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies published from 2010 to 2025. The literature review categorizes past research into four primary areas, which include the stressors in the workplace, emotional exhaustion, deterioration of organizational culture, and industry-specific issues in the manufacturing environment.

The findings reveal that although the existence of the stressors in the workplace, such as role uncertainty, high workloads, and job insecurities as strong predictors of emotional exhaustion is well documented in previous research, there is inadequate analysis of the mediating role played by cultural deterioration. There is also a noted lack of studies dealing with emerging markets, especially concerning the Indian manufacturing sector. Through this review, the literature will be enriched by integrating different areas of research and creating an empirical relationship between the stressors at work, cultural deterioration, and emotional exhaustion.