Between whiplash-inducing policy shifts in Trump’s second term and ever-present personal liability concerns, compliance officers already face unprecedented pressure. Editorial director Jennifer L. Gaskin examines CCI’s striking new survey findings that reveal an equally triggering stressor hiding in plain sight: organizational reporting structures that can cripple program effectiveness.
Nearly half of compliance officers have experienced anxiety in the past year, and a large number say their jobs played a major role in their mental health challenges. The anxiety-inducing nature of compliance work is nothing new, but a newly released survey from CCI reveals that part of the root cause of compliance officer stress isn’t the job itself — it’s the organizational structure.
CCI’s survey of more than 300 compliance professionals, the media company’s second survey on the topic in the past three years, found that compliance officers working under effective reporting structure, meaning the person/people to whom they report directly, had lower rates of job-related stress than those who said their reporting structures were ineffective. The difference is stark: About one-third of those in effective structures (31%) had high rates of job-related stress vs. 60% of those in ineffective structures. Those in effective structures also had much higher job satisfaction and fewer negative impacts on their mental health, the report found.
“These findings challenge the notion that unrelenting stress is simply part of a compliance career,” said Sarah Hadden, CCI publisher and CEO. “While certain pressures are inevitable — from regulatory changes like the recent FCPA enforcement pause to the weight of personal liability — how organizations empower their compliance function via reporting structures can either amplify or help manage these challenges.”
This research reveals a profession at a crossroads — and not just because of the whiplash-inducing changes during the early going of the second Trump Administration. While compliance officers report growing effectiveness and increasing respect from colleagues, they continue to struggle with many of the well-known stressors in compliance, including resource constraints and overwhelming workloads.
But CCI’s findings also point to a clear path forward. As the field of compliance continues to mature, with 73% of compliance officers now rating themselves as effective in their roles (up from 57% in 2022), the data shows that organizational design choices can make a significant difference in both protecting compliance officer well-being and strengthening corporate integrity programs.
CO independence
The survey findings reveal significant differences in compliance officer (CO) well-being based on reporting structure, with the most stark results emerging from COs who report to legal departments or general counsels. These respondents were more than twice as likely to rate their reporting structure as ineffective compared to other common organizational charts.
“Legal and Compliance have different roles,” explained one survey respondent. “In this reporting structure when in dispute, Legal wins by default.” Another noted that “all issues are viewed through the lens of legal risk. It diminishes the ability of independence for me, the [chief compliance officer].”
In contrast, among common arrangements, those reporting to the CEO/president or board of directors reported the highest satisfaction with their organizational structure, which indicates that a direct line to top leadership signals the highest degree of independence and authority needed to effectively manage compliance work’s intense pressures.
Compliance independence aligns with guidance from the federal government, including the DOJ’s “Evaluation of Corporate Compliance Programs” guidance, most recently updated in September 2024, which emphasizes the importance of empowered (and well-resourced) compliance programs. But the CCI survey found that while 69% of COs say their compliance program works in practice, only 27% say they’re adequately resourced, suggesting that even well-structured departments may need additional support to function optimally.
Health effects, both mental & physical
The well-being challenges facing compliance officers extend well beyond typical workplace stress. The survey found that 49% of respondents experienced anxiety-related difficulties, while 29% struggled with depression. Troublingly, a majority said their jobs played a “large” or “extremely large” role in these mental health challenges, with 54% connecting their work directly to their anxiety and 55% to their depression.
Their pressure comes from multiple directions, both inside their companies and outside. More than three quarters (78%) of COs work upwards of 41 hours per week, with nearly one-quarter (23%) putting in 50 or more. Beyond the long hours, they are constantly worried about personal liability and the responsibility of managing ever-changing regulatory requirements. And the negative effects aren’t limited to mental health concerns. More than half of survey respondents said their jobs negatively affect their physical well-being.
“Managing the proactive aspects of compliance for a huge organization while managing all of the issues that are reported to the team — it never feels like enough,” one respondent explained. “And if you make a mistake or an error in judgment, the feds are going to hold you individually accountable with loss of job, savings and reputation.”
For many COs, long hours and tight deadlines create workdays that not only are overwhelming but have them locked in a pattern of reactivity, preventing them from focusing on things like team development, training or program enhancement: “There is so much to do that I know needs to be done,” one respondent noted, “but there are not enough resources or time in the day to tackle it.”
Challenges appear to intensify with seniority. The survey reveals something of a Catch-22: As compensation increases, so does stress, which begs the question of whether moving up in the ranks is worth the trouble. COs earning more than $200,000 per year were much more likely to report “a lot” or “extreme” stress compared to those who make less than that (57% vs. 34%).
And burnout, a product of prolonged unmanageable stress, remains common, though the survey did find a bright spot: Just over half of COs (51%) said they feel burned out at work, but this figure was down from the 59% who said they were burned out in 2022, the first year for CCI’s survey.
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Things can get better
Despite the challenges compliance professions pose, the survey reveals signs of positive change in how organizations view and value their compliance functions. More than three-quarters (76%) of COs say they feel respected by their colleagues, up from 68% in 2022. Similarly, trust in organizational leadership is on the rise, with 51% expressing confidence in their leaders compared to 45% in the previous survey.
These improvements in workplace culture are having a meaningful impact. The percentage of compliance officers who feel effective in their roles has risen to 73% from 57% in 2022. Their growing sense of effectiveness, combined with improving organizational relationships, suggests that companies are making progress in integrating compliance into their corporate culture.
Team structure also appears to make a difference. COs who work as part of a team, rather than being a one-person show as their organization’s sole compliance professional, reported higher effectiveness ratings. This finding aligns with broader trends showing that well-resourced, properly structured compliance departments deliver better outcomes for both organizations and the professionals who staff them.
Organizations looking to strengthen their compliance programs have clear marching orders: Give compliance officers direct reporting lines to top leadership, provide adequate resources and model respect for compliance throughout the organization.
Jennifer L. Gaskin is editorial director of Corporate Compliance Insights. A newsroom-forged journalist, she began her career in community newspapers. Her first assignment was covering a county council meeting where the main agenda item was whether the clerk's office needed a new printer (it did). Starting with her early days at small local papers, Jennifer has worked as a reporter, photographer, copy editor, page designer, manager and more. She joined the staff of Corporate Compliance Insights in 2021. 
