• Oracle has agreed to settle a long running California labor lawsuit for $15.5 million. The plaintiffs alleged that, from 2015 to 2018, the technology giant violated the California Labor Code with respect to the company’s sales compensation plans and sales commission practices. According to the complaint, Oracle failed to provide commissioned sales employees with a written, signed commission contract at the beginning of their employment. The contracts that were later provided failed to set forth the method by which commissions would be computed and paid. You can read more about it here.  
   
• Microsoft is fundamentally reshaping its approach to selling artificial intelligence, as revealed in a recent internal memo from Judson Althoff, the company’s Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer. The memo outlines a sweeping strategy shift: Microsoft will move away from traditional sales roles, instead prioritizing technical experts to lead the charge in promoting and implementing its AI solutions. This comes on the heels of significant layoffs, with thousands of salespeople being let go and many of their roles slated to be replaced by more technically skilled employees. You can read more about it here.

• Redesign Jobs: Simplify and streamline B2B processes to reduce cognitive load. Instead of requiring reps to be experts in everything, create specialized roles and support systems.
• Invest in Training: Equip salespeople with specific skills to handle long sales cycles and tough negotiations. 
• Revise Compensation: Provide more stable income through better base-to-variable ratios. Financial uncertainty is a major driver of the anxiety that leads to increased neuroticism.
• Build a Culture of Care: Implement regular mental health check-ins, provide access to mental health resources, and foster strong support networks. Treat mental health like physical safety—as a business imperative, not a nice-to-have.
   

The Reality Check You Need

Here's the uncomfortable truth: if you're feeling more anxious, more pessimistic, or more emotionally reactive than when you started your sales career, you're not imagining it. You're not weak. You're experiencing a documented psychological effect of working in an inherently uncertain environment.

The first step is acknowledging that B2B sales roles carry mental health risks similar to how some jobs carry physical risks. For sales professionals, this means making informed career choices and prioritizing mental health maintenance. For sales leaders, it means recognizing that employee wellbeing isn't just about retention—it's about preventing genuine psychological harm.

The research doesn't suggest that everyone should abandon B2B sales. Instead, it calls for honesty about the profession's impact and proactive measures to protect the people who keep our economy moving. Because while neuroticism might help you close deals in the short term, the long-term cost—to individuals, families, and society—is simply too high to ignore.