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Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2025. It was last updated on Aug. 20, 2026, to reflect the current data and industry trends.
U.S. employee engagement has stayed stuck at a 10-year low. After dropping to 31% in 2024, a level last seen in 2014, Gallup’s tracking shows engagement held flat at 31% through 2025, with the share of actively disengaged employees remaining at 17%. Globally, the picture is even more concerning: Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report found worldwide engagement fell to 20% in 2025, down from a peak of 23% in 2022, the first time Gallup has ever recorded two consecutive years of global decline. This isn’t a blip. It’s a structural shift in how people relate to work, and it’s costing the global economy an estimated $10 trillion in lost productivity every year.
A Decline in Engagement, and a Growing Disconnect
Younger employees continue to feel the most disconnected from their organizations. Workers under 35 have seen some of the steepest engagement declines in recent years, and Gallup consistently finds this group is the most vocal about needing a genuine connection with their employer, which is exactly where the disconnect is showing up most.
A Disconnect in Clear Expectations
Only 46% of U.S. employees say they clearly know what is expected of them at work, down sharply from 56% in March 2020 (Source: Gallup (2025)). There’s a glimmer of progress here worth noting: Gallup’s most recent data from the first half of 2026 shows this figure ticking up to 49%, a small but real signal that some organizations are getting more deliberate about role clarity. Still, that’s well below the 61% peak Gallup recorded back in 2015, which tells you how much ground there is left to make up.
Lack of Personal Connection and Development Opportunities
Companies are also falling short on building meaningful relationships with employees. Only 39% of employees strongly agree that someone at work cares about them as a person, down from 47% in 2020. That disconnect breeds isolation and disillusionment, and it shows up downstream as disengagement. (Source: Gallup (2025))
Development is another weak spot: just 30% of employees feel someone is actively encouraging their growth, down from 36% in 2020. When employees feel their development is being ignored, they’re less likely to stay committed to their role or their organization.
The Manager Factor
If there’s one thread tying all of this together, it’s the manager. Gallup’s long-running research has found that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement scores, and managers themselves are struggling. In that 2026 report, Gallup found global manager engagement fell from 30% to 27% in a single year, with the steepest declines among managers under 35 and female managers. When the people responsible for delivering clarity, connection, and recognition are themselves stretched thin or disengaged, that strain flows directly downstream to their teams.
The Industry-Specific Decline
Certain sectors are feeling this more acutely than others. Finance, insurance, transportation, technology, and professional services have all reported sharper-than-average engagement declines. While the causes vary by industry, a lack of leadership clarity, unclear career progression, and insufficient recognition are common threads running through all of them.
What Can Organizations Do to Boost Engagement?
Addressing the current state of employee engagement requires focused action. A few strategies can help reverse the trend:
Clarify Expectations: Ensuring employees understand their roles and responsibilities is one of the most basic, and most overlooked, levers available. Regular check-ins and goal-setting sessions help employees feel more confident and grounded in their work.
Invest in Managers: Since managers drive the majority of the variance in team engagement, manager enablement is one of the highest-leverage investments an organization can make right now. Equipping managers with the tools, coaching, and support to lead well pays off across the entire team.
Create Personal Connections: Leadership must prioritize building meaningful relationships with employees. Taking the time to show employees they’re valued as individuals, not just workers, goes a long way toward improving engagement.
Encourage Development: Employees, particularly younger ones, want to feel like they’re growing professionally. Offer training, mentorship, and skill-building opportunities that align with both their career goals and the company’s objectives.
Recognize and Reward Contributions: Acknowledge the hard work and dedication of employees consistently, not just occasionally. Regular recognition helps employees feel more motivated and engaged, and it’s one of the more cost-effective levers available to counter disengagement.
Tailor Approaches by Industry: Each industry faces its own challenges, so a one-size-fits-all approach to engagement won’t work. Employers in sectors with sharper declines should tailor their strategies to address specific pain points, whether that’s improved work-life balance, clearer advancement paths, or increased recognition of contributions.
Conclusion
The state of employee engagement in 2026 is still a wake-up call, arguably a louder one than it was even a year ago. The data is clear: employees want clarity, care, and opportunities to grow, and right now, too many organizations aren’t delivering on any of the three. The good news is that the fix isn’t a mystery. Organizations that invest in manager enablement, role clarity, development, and genuine recognition are the ones positioned to reverse the trend, while everyone else keeps losing ground.
Source data: Gallup, “U.S. Employee Engagement Sinks to a 10-Year Low” (January 2025, full-year 2024 data); Gallup, “Employee Engagement Remains Flat as AI Adoption Accelerates” (2026, first-half 2026 data); and Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace (2026).
