Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level since 2014, with only 31% of employees reporting being engaged at work in 2024, according to a recent Gallup report. And the percentage of actively disengaged employees, at 17%, also reflects 2014 levels.
“Though engagement increased slightly midyear, it declined through the rest of 2024, finishing the year at its decade low,” Gallup says in the report.
The percentage of engaged employees has declined by two percentage points since 2023, highlighting a growing trend of employee detachment from organizations, particularly among workers younger than 35, Gallup said.
Dating back to 2000, employee engagement peaked in 2020, at 36%, following a decade of steady growth, but it has generally trended downward since then, the report shows.
A lack of defined roles, close connections, and growth opportunities drove the drop. Only 46% of employees knew what was expected of them at work (compared with 56% in March 2020), just 39% felt strongly that someone at work cared about them (down from 47% in March 2020), and a mere 30% strongly agreed that someone at work encouraged their development (down from 36% in March 2020).
Younger employees fared worse than other age groups. Engagement levels for Gen Z workers decreased by 5 percentage points, with significant declines in their clarity around job expectations, access to materials and equipment needed to do their work well, and opportunities to do what they do best.
Specific industries where employee engagement dropped the most include finance, insurance, transportation, technology, and professional services sectors.
What’s behind this lower engagement and increased detachment? Rapid organizational changes, challenges arising from hybrid and remote work transitions, new customer and employee expectations, and broken performance management practices all contributed, Gallup’s research found.
“Employee engagement trends matter for organizational leaders because declines signal potential vulnerabilities for businesses. Broad macroeconomic indexes do not always reflect what leaders and employees are experiencing in their own workforces and industries,” Gallup said. “The factors that affect macro conditions do not necessarily align with the micro conditions—such as the quality of managing—that directly affect how employees feel at work every day, their individual productivity, and their wellbeing. Moreover, macroeconomic conditions, such as unemployment rates, inflation, and interest rates, can limit the success of individual organizations that have little to do with the engagement of their workforce. For instance, when mortgage rates are high, even the most engaged and skilled real estate agents struggle to close deals compared with periods with lower rates.”
Managers play a key role in keeping employees engaged, and, in turn, boosting productivity. As noted by Gallup, managers and other business leaders can improve employee engagement by defining workplace culture and how it aligns with the organization’s mission and value proposition, identifying and hiring managers who are skilled at motivating employees, and creating stronger relationships between employees and the company by providing clear priorities, consistent feedback, and accountability.
Taking these steps can “reverse engagement declines,” Gallup reports, and in so doing help improve the quality of employees’ work as well as the company’s profitability.
With Tribune News Services
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Tags: Payroll, Small Business, Staffing
