The employee engagement crisis report

Only 1 in 5 employees are engaged.

What is it costing your organization?

Employee engagement is falling just as organizations need more from their people. AI is changing how we work, productivity pressure is growing, and the people expected to make it all work risk being overlooked.

So what’s driving the engagement crisis, and what can we do about it?


The cost of checking out

Low engagement is leaving performance on the table. And managers are increasingly part of the problem. What would it take to change this?

1 in 5

employees worldwide say they’re engaged at work.

Gallup 2026

$10 trillion

in productivity was lost globally to low engagement last year.

Gallup 2026

31% → 22%

Manager engagement has fallen nine percentage points since 2022.

Gallup 2026

What we cover

  • The $10 trillion cost of people checking out.
  • Why the biggest engagement drop is happening among managers.
  • What it takes to turn AI investment into impact.
  • What science tells us makes people care.
  • Four things leaders can do to turn it around.

Silence has a cost

“I want to say a 4, but I don’t want any retribution. So I’m gonna actually give us a 7.”
What happens between thinking something and saying it out loud? Our interviews reveal why people hold back, and what it can mean for decisions and performance.

From understanding the crisis to doing something about it

Get the full picture of what’s driving the crisis, what leaders may be missing, and the practical changes that help turn it around.