For only the second time in the past 12 years, the global percentage of engaged employees fell — from 23% in 2023 to 21% in 2024, according to Gallup’s latest State of the Global Workplace report.
For the fifth year in a row, European workers’ engagement (13%) is lower than in any other world region.
Managers’ Engagement
The primary cause for the global decline in engagement was a drop in managers’ engagement: While engagement among individual contributors remained flat at 18%, managers’ engagement fell from 30% to 27%.
No other worker category experienced as significant a decline in engagement as the world’s managers. Two types of managers were particularly affected:
- Young (under 35) manager engagement fell by five percentage points.
- Female manager engagement dropped by seven points.
“Manager engagement affects team engagement, which affects productivity. Business performance — and ultimately GDP growth — is at risk if executive leaders do not address manager breakdown,” said Jim Harter, Gallup’s chief workplace scientist.
Gallup recommends three actions leaders can take to boost manager engagement:
- Ensure all managers receive training to cut extreme manager disengagement in half. Manager development has declined globally in recent years, and most say they have not received any training. However, active disengagement is cut in half for those who receive training.
- Teach managers effective coaching techniques to boost their performance. Participants in training courses focused on management best practices experienced up to 22% higher engagement than non-participants. Teams led by those participants saw engagement rise by up to 18%.
- Increase manager thriving through ongoing development. When employers provide manager training, it improves manager thriving from 28% to 34%. However, if they have training and someone at work who actively encourages their development, manager thriving increases to 50%.
Regional Engagement Trends
While all other world regions have experienced increases in employee engagement since 2011, Europe is the exception, with its current level of engagement (13%) two points lower than the 2011 measure (15%).
- Lowest engagement in Europe:
- Employee engagement in Europe is below 10% in Croatia (7%), Switzerland (8%), France (8%), Poland (8%), Luxembourg (8%), Spain (9%), Ireland (9%) and Austria (9%).
- Declines in engagement:
- Croatia (7%) and North Macedonia (20%) had among the largest drops in engagement from the previous three-year rolling average, with each falling five points.
- Germany recorded a new low in engagement (12%). Though statistically similar to their previous respective lows, engagement in Switzerland, Poland and Ireland are at record lows in the latest three-year rolling averages.
- Engagement in Spain (9%) is down to half the level Gallup measured in the first three-year rolling average in 2010-2012 (18%).
- Meanwhile, engagement in the United Kingdom (10%) is down seven points from Gallup’s first three-year rolling average from 2010-2012 (17%).
- Highest engagement in Europe:
- Engagement in Europe is highest in Romania, where more than a third of workers are engaged (35%). The Romanian workforce has been among the most engaged in the region in nearly all measures over the past decade.
- Increases in engagement in Europe:
- A new high in engagement was recorded in Albania (29%). Meanwhile, engagement in Sweden (24%), the Netherlands (16%) and Greece (13%) are among the highest Gallup has recorded in each country’s three-year rolling averages.
- Engagement in Italy is higher than a decade ago, but the 10% who are engaged still ranks low from a regional and global perspective. In recent years, Italian workers had some of the lowest engagement scores in the world.
- The 21% of Danish workers who are engaged is on the high end of the 15% to 22% range Gallup has measured over a decade.
The Job Market
The majority of European employees (57%) say it is a “good time” to find a job in their local job market — a new high.
Globally, over half of employees (51%) say it is a “good time” to find a job where they live, but this is down to the lowest point since 2021.
Employee Wellbeing
Less than half of European employees are thriving in their lives (47%) — consistent with Gallup measures in 2022 and 2023. European workers are still thriving at a rate well above the global average (33%).
Worldwide, the percentage of thriving employees dropped for a consecutive year, falling to the lowest point since 2021.
At the same time, European employees’ reports of experiencing anger (14%) the previous day are lower than the 15% to 19% range previously recorded.
Among global employees, reports of stress are slightly lower than in recent years but remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic figures. Reports of experiencing daily anger are stable, while experiences of sadness are on the high end of Gallup’s trend since 2009. More than one in five employees report having experienced loneliness.
