Gallup Measures Global Worker Satisfaction, Finds Majority are Not Engaged

How do workers around the globe feel about their jobs, their peers, their managers? Are workplaces engaging? Are worker satisfied? What about the impact of remote work on engagement? These are all questions that the Gallup Organization attempted to answer in its latest State of the Global Workforce Report.

For the 2024 report, Gallup analyzed more than 183,000 business units across 53 industries and 90 countries. The report attempted to measure how engaged workers by measuring positive and negative experiences at work. 

Looking at the big picture, 23 percent of employees globally say they are engaged and are feeling involved and enthusiastic about their work. That matches the record high set in the 2022 report.

However, 62 percent say they’re not engaged, do the bare minimum and are uninspired by their work. 15 percent are “actively disengaged” and are actively looking for a new job.

As Gallup notes, “Measuring and monitoring employee engagement is crucial: Three decades of Gallup research have demonstrated a strong association among engagement, the quality of managers and critical business outcomes.”

In fact, Gallup found that the world lost nearly $9 trillion in global GDP because of low employee engagement.

Gallup also found that teams in the top quartile of engagement achieve 23 percent more profitability.

Looking beyond engagement, 34 percent of respondent say they are “thriving” at work, while 58 percent say they are “struggling” and eight percent are “suffering.”

One in five respondents reported feeling loneliness, anger, or sadness during the previous day. Four in ten felt a lot of stress. The report found remote work is fueling some of the loneliness, with 25 percent of fully virtual workers saying they experienced loneliness the previous day.

The Engagement Challenge

Gallup notes that managers have a big role in motivating employees. However, they are not engaged themselves. Gallup found just three in ten managers globally are engaged. While low, it’s still a higher rate of engagement than the general worker population.

“Countries with a higher percentage of engaged managers have a higher percentage of engaged employees overall,” noted the report.

Speaking of countries, Finland had the most engaged workers in the world, with Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Sweden making the top five. The only three non-European countries in the top ten are Israel, Costa Rica, and Australia.

“People often contrast Western Europe’s ‘work to live’ culture with the United States’ ‘live to work’ mindset,” state the report. “Ultimately, engaged employees in countries with substantial Labour Rights laws have the strongest emotional health.”

Asian countries like Mongolia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and China, finished with some of the lowest worker engagement scores.