Engagement Anxiety

Latest "State of the Global Workplace" report shows drop in worker productivity

Low employee engagement is holding back global worker productivity, according to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report.

Global employee engagement and employee wellbeing have generally risen over the past decade. But both fell in 2024, which has implications for corporate productivity, innovation and performance.

According to the report, global employee engagement fell by two percentage points in 2024, costing the world economy an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity, with managers experiencing the sharpest decline. Manager engagement fell from 30% to 27%, while individual contributor engagement remained flat at 18%. Engagement among managers under the age of 35 fell by five percentage points; female manager engagement dropped by seven points.

Secondly, "global employee wellbeing" fell for a second consecutive year, following several years of steady gains. This term involves workers who consider themselves "thriving" in their work life, so it is heavily subjective. After five years of steady improvement, global employee life evaluations fell in 2023 and again in 2024, declining to 33%. Again, managers experienced the largest decrease in the percentage who rate their lives positively enough to be considered thriving, while individual contributors saw their life evaluations improve slightly.

If the world’s workplace was "fully engaged," Gallup estimates that $9.6 trillion in productivity could be added to the global economy, the equivalent of 9% in global GDP.