Abstract Aims Increased prevalence and survival among patients with heart failure draws attention to their everyday life, including their ability to work. Many patients with heart failure withdraw from the workforce, which can affect their quality of life. The aim was to investigate patient-reported outcomes (PROs) and clinical and demographic variables as predictors of withdrawal from the workforce after admission with a diagnose of heart failure. Methods and results Patients with heart failure, who were part of the workforce at admission were included from the national cross-sectional survey, DenHeart. Data were collected from five national heart centres in Denmark, from April 2013 to April 2014. Patient-reported outcomes measured at discharge included SF-12, HeartQoL, HADS, and ESAS. Clinical and demographic variables were obtained from registers, medical records, and index hospitalization. Patient-reported outcomes, clinical, and demographic variables were combined with labour market affiliation 3, 6, 9, and 12 months after admission. The response rate was 49.1% (n = 1517) and of those 364 patients were part of the workforce at index admission. Patients with lower QoL odds ratio (OR) 2.58 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.24–5.37], symptoms of depression OR 2.57 (95% CI 1.47–4.50) and ejection fraction (EF) ≤35% OR 2.48 (95% CI 1.35–4.56) were more likely to withdraw from the workforce in the first year after admission. Patients with lower symptom burden OR 0.36 (95% CI 0.19–0.68) and a hospital stay of 0–2 days OR 0.18(95% CI 0.08–0.37) were less likely to withdraw. Conclusion Low QoL, high symptom burden, symptoms of depression, a longer length of hospital stay, and low EF can predict withdrawal from the workforce in the first year after admission with heart failure.