World of HR: Employee engagement drops globally for the second year in a row

Global engagement is falling, but job optimism is largely strong, according to the State of the Global Workplace report from Gallup.

Employee engagement fell for the second year in a row in 2025, to a post-Covid low of 20%, after peaking at 23% in 2022. Overall, engagement is still up since Gallup began tracking the metric in 2009, when it was just 12%.

Gallup estimates that employers lost an estimated $10 trillion due to low productivity in 2025. “Recent years are a cause for concern,” the report noted. “This is the first time global engagement has dropped for two consecutive years…No region of the world increased engagement in the past year.”

Some workers are more disengaged than others: 31% of workers in the US and Canada, and 30% in Latin America and the Caribbean are engaged at work, making them the most engaged workers in the world. Alternatively, just 12% and 14% of workers in Europe and the Middle East are engaged.

Fully remote workers are also more likely to be engaged (30%), compared to hybrid workers (25%), on-site workers with remote-capable jobs (24%), and on-site workers without remote-capable jobs (17%).

While remote workers were less likely to experience daily stress, they reported the highest instances of sadness and loneliness, compared to on-site, remote-capable workers, who reported the lowest levels. This year’s findings remain in line with last year’s, which indicated that remote workers may lack friendships and camaraderie.

“Leaders should embrace the advantages of remote work, such as flexible workflows, while also addressing the psychological effects of working alone by encouraging social interactions,” Gallup recommended in 2025.

Many workers are seemingly struggling outside of work, often feeling stress, sadness, or loneliness. According to the report, 40% of workers globally reported feeling stress within the last 24 hours. Those in the US and Canada, and Australia and New Zealand reported the most stress (50% and 49%, respectively), while workers in Southeast Asia (25%) and post-soviet Eurasia (21%) reported the least amount of stress.

Despite stress and lack of engagement, workers—especially hybrid workers—still appear to be optimistic about the job market. Though, remote-capable workers (44%) may be less optimistic because of employer policy changes impacting remote opportunities, or the proliferation of automation, Gallup found.

More than half (52%) of workers globally believe it’s a good time to find a new job. Workers in Southeast Asia, and Australia and New Zealand are the most optimistic about the job market, while those in the US and Canada, and the Middle East and North Africa are least optimistic. Additionally, the US and Canada and Australia and New Zealand both saw 10+ point YoY drops in job market optimism.

“When employees feel they have a lot of choice in the work they can do, they are more optimistic about the job market,” the report said. “This holds across every region of the world. As technologies like AI reshape the world of work, upskilling will likely be an essential part of employee hope for the future.”