Employee Engagement Statistics 2025: What Leaders Need to Know

Employee engagement has always been a central topic for organizations, but as recent Gallup findings reveal, the landscape in 2025 is more complex than ever. Disconnection, or what some call “The Great Detachment,” is on the rise, with only 31% of U.S. workers reportedly engaged in 2024—a 10-year low. Meanwhile, leading organizations that have doubled down on engagement strategies have achieved engagement rates of 70% or more, winning prestigious recognitions like the Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award.

There’s no shortage of debate around why these disparities exist. From AI’s rapid advancement to increased hybrid and remote work models, to generational shifts in the workforce, many factors are at play. But data consistently shows that organizations succeeding in 2025 are those that invest in tangible, employee-centered initiatives—and measure results relentlessly. Whether you’re an HR manager focused on building a healthy culture, an IT manager tasked with implementing digital tools, or a production manager needing to align frontline teams, it’s essential to stay informed on employee engagement statistics and learn how to use them to your advantage.

In this guide, we’ll break down the latest engagement numbers, highlight key insights from Gallup and other trusted sources, share best practices from successful organizations, and introduce Empact’s suite of modules that can make a real difference in your engagement efforts. By the end, you’ll understand where engagement stands today, where it’s heading in 2025, and how you can harness proven techniques—and the right technology—to foster a more connected, engaged workforce.

The State of Employee Engagement in 2025

A Global Snapshot

• Global Engagement Figures
  According to multiple studies—most notably Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace—the global engagement rate hovers around the low 20% range. The consensus is that a significant portion of workers remain disengaged or actively disengaged.

• U.S. Engagement at a 10-Year Low
  Gallup research shows that U.S. employee engagement sank to 31% in 2024, matching numbers last seen in 2014. This decline, dubbed “The Great Detachment,” is particularly pronounced among employees under 35. Economic uncertainty, stalled career growth, and frequent organizational changes appear to be top culprits.

• Bright Spots: 2025 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award Winners
  Despite overall declines, 70 organizations recognized as 2025 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winners reported an average engagement of 70%, with 14 engaged employees to every one actively disengaged employee. These high-performing companies attribute their success to prioritizing employees as their greatest asset, combining engagement with strengths-based development to unlock potential.

• Regional Variations
  Engagement also varies by region:

  • South Asia boasts some of the highest reported engagement (up to 33%, per some reports).

  • Europe lags with some of the lowest engagement levels, though it’s worth noting a relatively small proportion of “actively disengaged” employees.

  • Latin America often shows higher engagement rates than Europe but still faces challenges with frontline worker retention and well-being.

The Great Detachment: Why Now?

“The Great Resignation” of 2021 left organizations scrambling to fill vacancies, but in 2024 and into 2025, many employees opted to stay put despite feeling disengaged. Reasons include:

• Weaker job markets and economic uncertainty.

• Rising cost of living, leading people to value stability over change.

• Disconnect from organizational mission—employees are “silent job-hunting” rather than actively resigning.

As Gallup notes, many workers now feel “stuck” at their jobs, fueling higher rates of absenteeism, lower productivity, and decreased overall satisfaction.

Why Employee Engagement Statistics 2025 Matter

Linking Engagement to Performance

Decades of research from Gallup, alongside fresh data from 2024 and 2025, clearly link engagement to critical business outcomes:

• Profitability: Engaged teams outperform disengaged teams by up to 23%.

• Productivity: Engaged employees boost productivity by up to 18%.

• Retention: High-engagement organizations see 59% less turnover in high-turnover industries and 24% less in low-turnover industries.

• Customer Satisfaction: A 10% increase in customer ratings correlates with high employee engagement.

The Cost of Disengagement

The reverse is also staggering. Globally, disengaged employees cost organizations an estimated $8.8 trillion in lost productivity—around 9% of global GDP. Additional Gallup findings reveal that disengagement can lead to:

• 81% higher absenteeism rates.

• 64% more safety incidents.

• 41% lower quality (e.g., defects).

In the UK alone, some data suggests 90% of employees feel disengaged, costing billions of pounds in lost revenue. Across Europe, persistent low engagement dampens innovation, and in regions like the U.S., a large percentage of younger workers feel insufficiently supported in career development, fueling turnover intentions.

Engagement and Well-Being

Half of U.S. employees (50%) rate their overall life negatively, hitting a record low for thriving employees in Gallup’s trend. This matters because well-being correlates strongly with engagement: workers who feel cared for and appreciated are less likely to burn out and more likely to stay and perform. Burnout can strike even highly engaged employees when they consistently overwork or don’t receive necessary support—1 in 5 employees in a study by Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, report being simultaneously “highly engaged and at risk of burnout.”

Key Drivers Influencing Engagement in 2025

1. Role Clarity

   • Gallup’s 2024 data indicates only 46% of employees strongly agree they know what’s expected of them—a 10% drop from 2020.

   • Lack of clarity leads to frustration, inefficiency, and ultimately disengagement.

2. Manager Effectiveness

   • Engagement thrives or dies at the managerial level.

   • Yet, only 31% of managers report feeling engaged themselves.

3. Career Development

   • Workers who feel they lack career growth or “someone who encourages their development” drop in engagement.

   • Learning and development opportunities are a top factor: 80% of employees say learning new skills improves engagement.

4. Recognition and Feedback

   • Regular feedback, especially weekly, boosts engagement dramatically.

5. Flexible/Remote Work

   • Hybrid and remote employees often report slightly higher engagement than on-site teams.

   • However, remote work can also increase isolation. “Loneliness” is emerging as a top business risk, with employees missing out on vital social connections if leaders fail to address it.

6. AI Adoption and Performance Management

   • AI tools can enhance or disrupt engagement, depending on implementation.

   • Many employees say AI feels “fairer” in performance evaluation, but remain uncertain due to unclear organizational guidelines about AI usage.

7. Inclusion and Belonging

   • Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives improve decision-making and innovation, which support engagement.

   • Leading organizations in 2025 view DEI not as an “extra,” but as a pillar of engagement.

8. Workplace Design and Communication

   • Siloed teams, poor internal communication, and outdated collaboration tools hinder engagement.

   • Forward-thinking companies use app-based communication platforms that target relevant news, facilitate chat, and streamline knowledge sharing.

Industry-Specific Engagement Insights

While all sectors share core engagement drivers, certain industries face unique challenges heading into 2025.

Deskless Industries

Manufacturing, construction, hospitality, and other deskless industries often wrestle with:

• Frontline Worker Disconnection: Limited or no daily computer access means frontline employees can feel excluded from corporate communications.

• Safety and Engagement: Gallup links lower engagement to higher safety incidents—a crucial concern in physically demanding jobs.

For more specialized strategies to tackle these issues, see our dedicated resource on 5 Employee Engagement Trends to Watch Out for in Deskless Industries.

Finance, Insurance, and Professional Services

• High Burnout Risk: Employees often juggle complex tasks under significant pressure.

• Training Gaps: Fast-paced change means employees require continual upskilling or reskilling to remain competitive.

Technology

• AI Anxiety: Employees worry about job displacement or lacking the skills needed to work effectively with new systems.

• Hybrid Collaboration: With distributed teams across time zones, robust communication and project management tools become paramount.

Overcoming Common Engagement Challenges in 2025

Even amid dropping engagement levels, organizations can thrive by adopting data-driven approaches. Consider these top obstacles, along with potential solutions.

1. Declining Clarity and Purpose

Challenge: Employees report declining clarity around role expectations and organizational mission, leading to confusion and detachment.

Solutions:

• Set Clear Goals: Managers must define explicit, measurable goals.

• Revisit the ‘Why’: Incorporate the organization’s mission into team huddles and performance reviews so employees connect their role to a bigger purpose.

• Manager Training: As covered in How to Measure and Improve Employee Engagement, managers should learn how to communicate expectations effectively and engage in two-way feedback.

2. Need for Effective Communication Tools

Challenge: Siloed communication and an overload of irrelevant intranet info hinder employee engagement and hamper agility.

Solutions:

• Use Targeted Updates: A robust app that pushes relevant news to specific roles ensures the right people see the right updates.

• Encourage Social Interaction: Internal social platforms foster a sense of community and keep everyone in the loop, especially remote workers.

3. Manager and Team Disconnection

Challenge: Managers often fare no better in engagement than employees they manage, leading to a vicious cycle of poor leadership.

Solutions:

• Leadership Development: Ongoing training around coaching, providing feedback, and performance management.

• Mentoring Programs: Pair new managers with experienced mentors, helping them navigate challenges.

• Frequent Check-ins: As recommended in Boost Employee Engagement, weekly or biweekly touchpoints keep teams connected.

4. Combating Frontline Isolation

Challenge: Deskless or frontline workers might not have easy access to corporate emails or intranets, resulting in low engagement and higher turnover.

Solutions:

• Mobile-first Communication: Apps that deliver push notifications and relevant updates to employees’ phones.

• Real-time Chat: Teams can quickly coordinate, eliminating the slow “telephone tag” effect of outdated methods.

For more on engaging this critical demographic, see How to Engage Frontline Workers.

5. Managing Burnout

Challenge: Even highly engaged employees can burn out if not properly supported, especially under constant deadlines or high workload.

Solutions:

• Well-Being Programs: Encouraging mental health days, flexible scheduling, or stress management resources.

• Workload Assessments: Regularly evaluating whether team members have the right resources, as pointed out by multiple sources.

• Recognition Systems: A “thank you” or public acknowledgment fosters gratitude and relief, mitigating feelings of overwhelm.

6. AI Adoption and Fairness Concerns

Challenge: AI introduces efficiency but can also raise fears of bias, job loss, or skill irrelevance if not managed transparently.

Solutions:

• Set Clear Guidelines: Distinguish between AI assistance (“fair play”) and overreliance or misuse (“fraud”).

• Upskilling: Equip employees to use AI ethically and effectively.

• Transparent Metrics: In AI-based performance reviews, let employees know how metrics are calculated to ensure trust.

Tying Employee Engagement Statistics to Business Outcomes

Reducing Turnover and Improving Safety

Gallup’s meta-analysis underscores how high engagement correlates with lower turnover (particularly in high-turnover fields). Engaged employees also work safer—64% fewer safety incidents. For a deeper dive into how engagement influences workplace safety, read Employee Engagement Workplace Safety.

Boosting Productivity and Profit

Organizations with engaged teams enjoy:

• 18% increases in productivity

• 23% gains in profitability

This direct link between employee productivity engagement and the bottom line is explored in employee productivity engagement.

Enhancing the Employee Experience

High engagement naturally uplifts the employee experience—improving well-being, retention, and internal advocacy (employees recommending their organization as a great place to work). For more insights, see Employee Experience vs Employee Engagement.

Running Effective Engagement Campaigns

The Importance of Campaigns

In 2025, well-orchestrated employee engagement campaigns are crucial for galvanizing teams, especially when rolling out big changes like an AI system or new safety protocols. Learn more in Employee Engagement Campaigns.

Steps to Launch a Successful Campaign

1. Set Clear Goals: Identify what you hope to achieve (e.g., reduce turnover by 10% in frontline teams).

2. Promote Accountability: Assign campaign champions and track progress with metrics.

3. Gather Feedback: Launch short surveys mid-campaign to gauge effectiveness and pivot if needed.

4. Celebrate Success: Recognize milestones and wins at every stage.

Measuring and Adapting Your Strategy

The Role of Engagement Surveys

Survey data offers actionable insights and helps leaders understand immediate employee concerns. For a step-by-step guide on crafting effective surveys, read Employee Engagement Survey.

Other Measurement Techniques

• Pulse Checks: Short, frequent surveys or poll questions inside your organization’s app.

• Focus Groups: Deeper, qualitative understanding of pain points.

• One-on-Ones: Regular manager-employee check-ins for feedback loops.

Continuous Improvement

When employees witness that leadership acts on survey data or feedback, engagement grows. Conversely, ignoring reported issues leads to cynicism and further disengagement. 

Employee Engagement App Selection

The right technology stack can transform your approach to engagement. When vetting platforms, consider:

• Ease of Use: Mobile compatibility, intuitive interfaces.

• Security & Compliance: Protect sensitive data and align with GDPR or other regional regulations.

• Analytics: Built-in dashboards for real-time insights into usage, engagement, and survey outcomes.

For a comprehensive guide, see Employee Engagement App Selection: A Comprehensive Guide.

How to Keep Employees Connected

Creating a truly unified workforce, especially if your organization spans multiple locations or time zones, requires intentional strategies:

• Use Collaborative Tools: Chat, social walls, and knowledge bases that unify communication. Check out our Employee Engagement Software, it could be the right tool for you.

• Encourage Peer Recognition: Provide digital spaces for employees to celebrate each other’s achievements.

• Regular Team-Building Activities: See employee engagement activities for fresh ideas.

For further reading, How to Connect Employees outlines specific actions to break down silos and bridge remote/hybrid divides.

Conclusion: Why 2025 Is the Year to Invest in Engagement

Employee engagement is no longer a “nice-to-have” but an essential driver of business success and resilience. The employee engagement statistics we’ve explored—ranging from Gallup’s meta-analyses to region-specific insights—underscore that organizations with high engagement enjoy:

• Better profitability, higher retention, and increased productivity.

• An innovative edge as engaged employees more readily adopt new technologies and processes.

• A healthier culture, where people feel heard, supported, and motivated to contribute their best.

Yet achieving these outcomes demands commitment, strategic planning, and the right tools. Empact’s modules—Survey, Communication, Social Wall, Chat, Training & Onboarding, and Knowledge Base—offer a holistic platform for addressing the common pitfalls we see in 2025. Whether you’re rolling out real-time communication to keep frontline workers informed or launching training initiatives for a new AI-driven system, Empact can unify these efforts under one digital roof.

It’s time to move beyond theoretical conversations about “What is Employee Engagement” and get practical. By taking a clear-eyed look at statistics on employee engagement, identifying your biggest challenges, and leveraging modern solutions, you can make 2025 the year your organization turns engagement data into measurable, lasting success.