“Severance” Surge: 60% Believe a Separate Work Identity is Key for Career Success

Imagine a world where you could completely separate your work and personal life—no stress from the office bleeding into your evenings, no worrying about how your personal beliefs might affect your career. The hit TV show Severance explores this concept as science fiction, but for many workers, the idea feels closer to reality than fiction.

Based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. workers, Zety’s Workplace Identity Report reveals the impact of workplace expectations on personal identity, job satisfaction, and well-being. The findings suggest that modern work culture often forces employees to compartmentalize their lives—sometimes to the extent that they would even consider a Severance-style solution. Inspired by the show’s premise, in which employees undergo a medical procedure to erase memories of their job outside of work and vice versa, the study uncovers that many workers are already experiencing a real-world version of this divide, often at the expense of their well-being and authenticity.

Key Findings

• Pressure to conform: 60% of employees believe maintaining a separate “work identity” is necessary for career success.
• Real-life severance: Over one-third (35%) would “sever,” or separate, their work self from their personal self if they could.
• Reasons for severing: Improved work-life balance (16%) and escaping a toxic work environment (12%) are the top factors that would drive employees to consider “severing.”
• Hiding personal identity: Workers feel most pressure to conform when sharing personal beliefs or values at work, such as political views, sexual orientation, or religion (18%).
• Gender and race bias: 44% believe both gender and race influences how much employees feel the need to conform at work.

Conformity in the Workplace

For the majority of employees (60%), maintaining a separate “work identity” is seen as essential for career success. As a result, many workers present a carefully curated version of themselves at work. The data shows:

• 1 in 6 workers feel pressure from their employer to maintain a different personality at work than in their personal life.
• 64% hide aspects of their personal life at work to maintain a professional image.
• 44% believe both gender and race influences how much employees feel the need to conform at work.

What this means: The necessity of maintaining a separate "work identity" shows a significant disconnect between employees' authentic selves and their professional personas, highlighting a workplace culture that often demands artificiality for perceived success.

What Employees Are Hiding: The Struggle for Authenticity

The impact of this pressure to conform extends across various personal characteristics, leading workers to suppress their true selves. The survey reveals what employees most frequently feel the need to hide or alter:

• Personal beliefs, values, or identity (e.g., political views, sexual orientation, religion) - 18%
• Topics of conversation (e.g., personal life, interests, hobbies) - 15%
• Attitude or demeanor (e.g., optimism, energy level) - 14%
• Appearance (e.g., clothing, hairstyle, makeup, tattoos) - 14%
• Tone of voice - 12%
• Body language (e.g., posture, facial expressions) - 10%
• How they make decisions (e.g., collaborative vs. independent) - 8%

What this means: The diverse range of personal attributes employees feel compelled to conceal reveals a systemic lack of psychological safety, forcing individuals to sacrifice genuine expression for fear of workplace repercussions.

Would Employees Choose a Severance-Style Work Life?

In the TV show Severance, employees undergo a surgical procedure that divides their memories, creating distinct “innie” and “outie” personalities. The “innie” exists solely within the workplace, with no recollection of their outside life, while the “outie” lives their personal life, completely unaware of their work experiences.

While this may seem unrealistic and extreme, the idea of fully separating one’s work and personal self is appealing among today’s workforce: ​

• 35% of employees would ‘“sever” their work self if given the option.
• Women (56%) are more likely to consider “severing” than men (44%).
• Gen Z (33%) is the most likely generation to consider “severing.”

What this means: The considerable percentage of employees open to a Severance-style separation signals a profound desire to escape the burdens of workplace stress, even if it requires an extreme division of their identity.

Key Factors Leading Employees to Want a Work-Life Split

With nearly half (46%) of employees reporting that their personal life has suffered due to work concerns, it’s no surprise that many would opt to “sever” their work self.

Top reasons why employees would choose to “sever” include: 

• To improve work-life balance - 16%
• To escape the emotional toll of a toxic work environment - 12%
• To be more present and engaged in my personal life - 12% 
• To avoid personal traumas or mental health struggles - 11%
• To reduce the amount of time I stress about my finances - 10%
• To improve focus and productivity at work - 8%
• To avoid family or relationship issues - 8%
• To improve job satisfaction - 7%

What this means: The prevalence of work-life balance and toxic work environments as primary drivers for seeking a Severance solution illustrates the urgent need for employers to address the detrimental impact of workplace stress on employee well-being.

With a majority feeling pressure to conform and over a third willing to ‘sever’ their work identity entirely, the data underscores the emotional toll of workplace expectations. As companies continue to navigate evolving work cultures, fostering environments where authenticity is valued could be key to improving job satisfaction and mental health among employees.

Methodology

The findings presented were obtained by surveying 1,000 U.S. respondents on March 21, 2025 using Pollfish. Participants were queried about their experiences with workplace conformity and identity, responding to various question types, including yes/no questions, scale-based questions gauging agreement levels, and questions that permitted the selection of multiple options from a list of answers.