U.S. employees remain emotionally detached from their workplaces, and most are still watching for their next opportunity. As of midyear, Gallup data show 32% of employees are engaged in their work, a stagnation that points to deeper organizational challenges.
Leading organizations today has increased in complexity with transitions to hybrid and remote work, rapid organizational change, new customer and employee experience expectations, inefficient performance management practices, and changes in technology.
Since 2000, Gallup has used employee engagement surveys to track U.S. engagement through 12 scientifically validated items that capture the daily experiences and behaviors most strongly tied to performance outcomes across industries, measuring employee engagement nationwide. In the decade following the 2008 global economic crisis, engagement climbed steadily, peaking at 36% in early 2020. Then came the pandemic, and with it, the Great Resignation. Since 2021, engagement has generally declined, hitting an 11-year low of 30% in 2024.
Gallup’s latest employee engagement statistics show that engagement has inched up one percentage point in the second quarter of 2025, but for the full first half of the year, the overall trend remains flat. Gallup’s latest research sheds light on why engagement is important on a macro scale: The cost of disengagement in the U.S. is now approximately $2 trillion in lost productivity.
Among the 12 items that collectively measure employee engagement, Gallup found in Q2 2025:
- 47% of employees strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work
- 31% strongly agree that someone at work encourages their development
- 32% feel strongly connected to their organization’s mission or purpose
- 28% strongly agree that their opinions count at work
Further complicating things, fewer than one in five employees (19%) are extremely satisfied with their employer as a place to work, and most (51%) are still actively looking or keeping an eye out for job openings elsewhere.
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