Ready to re-engage
Workers around the world are feeling less engaged with their jobs, with managers experiencing the most significant decline. Female managers and those aged under 35 suffered the biggest drop in engagement, according to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report.
The research highlighted a range of factors affecting organisations in the past five years, including rapidly restricted teams, digital transformations, a “hiring boom and bust” and new employees’ wish for flexibility and remote working.
Europe had the lowest number of workers who felt engaged at 13%, while the USA had the highest at 31%. The global average was 21%. Only a third of workers worldwide described themselves as “thriving” and 40% said they had felt stress for a lot of the previous day.
However, the study said there could still be a “global productivity boom” if organisations improved company culture and followed “science-based management practices”. It pointed to three steps that could be taken to support this: “Ensure all managers receive training to cut extreme manager disengagement in half; Teach managers effective coaching techniques to boost manager performance by 20% to 28%; Increase manager wellbeing by 32% through ongoing manager development.”
The report added: “Manager engagement is the key to reversing declining productivity, improving employee wellbeing and unlocking trillions in economic potential. By redefining the role, expectations and support of managers, leaders can create an environment where managers thrive — and when managers thrive, so do their teams. The choice for executives is simple: Invest in the future of management or risk the consequences of inaction.”
