Employee Survival Guide® - S6 Ep.130: Gallup's "State of the Global Workplace: 2025 Report"

Episode Date: July 29, 2025

Comment on the Show by Sending Mark a Text Message.The global workplace teeters on the edge of a major shift, and Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2025 report confirms what many have sensed. Employee engagement has fallen from 23% to 21% in 2024, mirroring the drop seen during COVID-19 lockdowns and costing the global economy a staggering $438 billion in lost productivity.Surprisingly, the primary driver isn't frontline worker burnout but a significant decline in manager engagement, which fell from 30% to 27%. Young managers under 35 saw their engagement drop by five percentage points, while female managers experienced an alarming seven-point decline. Caught between increasing executive demands and evolving employee expectations, managers are being asked to "square the circle" – achieve the impossible amid constant disruption.This matters tremendously because 70% of team engagement is directly attributable to the manager. When they struggle, teams inevitably follow suit, creating a devastating ripple effect throughout organizations. The connection between engagement and overall wellbeing is equally clear – half of engaged employees report thriving in their overall lives, compared to just one-third of disengaged workers.Yet hidden within this challenge lies a transformative opportunity. Gallup estimates a fully engaged global workforce could add $9.6 trillion to the world economy – equivalent to about 9% of global GDP. The pathway to unlocking this potential is surprisingly achievable: providing basic manager training (currently missing for 56% of managers), teaching effective coaching techniques, and implementing ongoing development focused on wellbeing.Regional variations add fascinating context to the global picture. The US, Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean lead with 31% engagement, while Europe lags significantly at just 13%. Australia and New Zealand boast the highest thriving rates at 56%, contrasting sharply with South Asia's concerning 15%.As artificial intelligence transforms workplaces worldwide, this pivotal moment demands strategic choices. Will organizations leverage technology to elevate human potential or risk further disengagement? The data makes one thing abundantly clear: the future of work isn't fundamentally about technology – it's about human connection, empathetic leadership, and strategic development of our most valuable resource: people. If you enjoyed this episode of the Employee Survival Guide please like us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. We would really appreciate if you could leave a review of this podcast on your favorite podcast player such as Apple Podcasts. Leaving a review will inform other listeners you found the content on this podcast is important in the area of employment law in the United States. For more information, please contact our employment attorneys at Carey & Associates, P.C. at 203-255-4150, www.capclaw.com.Disclaimer: For educational use only, not intended to be legal advice.

Hey, it's Mark here and welcome to the next edition of the Employee Survival Guide where I tell you, as always, what your employer does definitely not want you to know about and a lot more. Have you ever felt like the global workplace is, well, teetering on the edge of a major shift? Yeah, like something really monumental is happening. Exactly. workplace is, well, teetering on the edge of a major shift. Yeah, like something really monumental is happening. Exactly, but it's maybe hard to put your finger on exactly what it is or, you know, why. Mm-hmm, that feeling.

Perhaps you're sensing it within your own team or maybe hearing similar stories from colleagues, even friends across continents. It's a really widespread sentiment, actually, and the data, as we're about to see today, it absolutely confirms that intuition. That's precisely what we're here to unpack. Welcome to the deep dive. Great to be digging into this one. Today we're taking a deep dive into an absolutely crucial document, Gallup's State of the Global Workplace 2025 report. Right and this isn't just some you know dry collection of statistics. No not at all. Think of it more like a comprehensive global pulse check

on how employees genuinely feel about their work and their lives. And maybe more importantly, we're going to explore what these feelings, or maybe the lack of them, what that ultimately means for organizations and economies worldwide. So our mission in this deep dive. Is really to extract the most important insights from this massive study. We want to help you quickly grasp the key challenges,

the opportunities facing leaders and employees right now. And point out some of the truly surprising facts that, well, that really stand out once you start peeling back the layers of the data. Definitely some surprises in there. Okay, let's get into it. The report opens with a pretty powerful statement from Gallup CEO, John Clifton.

He sets the stage, calling this a pivotal moment for the global workplace. Yeah, and what's truly compelling about that statement, and maybe a bit unsettling, is his observation right alongside it. Which is? That employee engagement is faltering at the exact time artificial intelligence is transforming every industry.

He frames it as this defining challenge for leaders, you know. Will they strategically use AI to energize and empower their workforce or... Or will they risk seeing their human capital fall even further behind? Exactly. It's a fascinating juxtaposition. human feeling and tech advancement side by side. That juxtaposition is really striking, isn't it? We're on the cusp of this massive tech shift. Yet the human element, the very foundation of productivity, it seems to be eroding. And the numbers certainly back up this idea of faltering.

Yeah, the headline finding is pretty stark. Global employee engagement fell from 23% down to 21% in 2024. Now a two-point drop. It might sound kind of incremental in isolation. That does, yeah. But when you think about a global workforce of billions, that small percentage point, it translates into an enormous, tangible shift in how people feel. Absolutely.

And it's crucial to remember this isn't just a statistical blip. No. Gallup highlights that this specific decline, this two-point drop, it mirrors the drop we saw during the peak of COVID-19 lockdowns back in 2020. Okay, so that puts it in perspective. It's significant. Hugely significant. It indicates a systemic indicator

of widespread distress, really. It reflects a tangible decline in how hundreds of millions of people feel about their jobs, their leaders, their future with their companies. It's like a return to a level of disengagement we hoped was just an anomaly from the pandemic. Precisely. And the cost of this disengagement.

The report quantifies it, and it's just staggering. Yeah. This fall in engagement cost the world economy a whopping US $438 billion in lost productivity. Wow. $438 billion. That's a monumental hit to global GDP. It truly is. And that kind of economic impact, it demands a deeper look, doesn't it? It pushes us to ask, what specifically contributed to such a big global decline?

And this is where the report really takes an unexpected turn, I think. It defies what many might assume. How so? Well, if you were betting on the root cause, you might point to frontline employees. Right. Struggling with new demands, maybe burnout. That seems logical, yeah. But Gallup's deep dive highlights a surprising core issue. The primary cause isn't individual contributors.

Instead, it's a significant drop in manager engagement. That fell from 30% down to 27%. Okay, so manager engagement dropped three points. Right. Meanwhile, individual contributor engagement actually remained flat at 18%. Wow. That really challenges a lot of assumptions about where the pressure points truly lie. It does. It's almost as if the very people tasked with steering the ship are the ones feeling the most turbulence. And the report says no other worker category, male, female, young, old,

experienced such a significant decline. But were some managers hit harder than others? Yes, absolutely. Two groups were particularly affected. Young managers, those under 35, saw a five percentage point decline. Five points for young managers, okay. And female managers experienced an even steeper drop, seven percentage points. Seven points for female managers. Those are the most significant declines across any worker category in the whole report.

That's what it says. It makes it pretty clear where the biggest crack in the foundation seems to be appearing. So if managers are the key, why are they struggling so much? The report explains it quite beautifully, I think. It says managers have been asked to square the circle. Square the circle, meaning? Of new executive demands on one side and employee expectations on the other, all happening of its constant disruption.

For those unfamiliar, it means trying to do something impossible basically. Reconcile two things that just don't fit together easily. That's a perfect way to put it. And just think about the last five years alone. I mean, they've thrown everything imaginable at managers. You've got post-pandemic turnover, the hiring boom followed swiftly by busts.

Rapid team restructuring. Shrinking budgets as stimulus programs ended, disrupted supply chains, turnover, the hiring boom followed swiftly by busts, rapid team restructuring, shrinking budgets as stimulus programs ended, disrupted supply chains, new customer expectations, the huge push for digital transformation, AI tools coming online, and of course the big one, new employee desires for flexibility, for remote work. It's not just disruption, it's like a relentless cascade of new often conflicting demands. It truly is an almost impossible task they're being asked to navigate. It sounds like they're completely caught in the middle. Yeah.

The report brings these struggles to life with some direct quotes from managers on the front lines. It makes it really tangible. Like what? Well listen to Abu Wim. He's a marketing manager in Saudi Arabia. He describes his experience like this. Difficult decisions put pressure on me psychologically, such as hiring. And sometimes there aren't many resources. Hmm. You can hear the weight there. Yeah, he goes on.

And there are also disputes between employees facing problems, new systems, and so on. So it's not just managing tasks, it's managing people. Conflicts, resources, constant change, all while dealing with that psychological toll. Exactly. And then imagine the pressure just from workload. And ILV, a field operating manager in South Africa, puts it very simply. What does he say?

We should have a team of six people. There's only two of us. I think that's very stressful. Wow. Stretched incredibly thin. That's a stark illustration. And then there's this emotional toll, which is often unseen. Ryan Ess, a supervisor in the US, shared something that really hit home for me. Oh, yeah.

He said, I mean, my guys will do anything I ask of them, and I love my guys, but there's no enthusiasm. I'm not asking anybody to be jumping around because we got work to do, but you can just feel it. Oof. You can absolutely feel the weariness in that statement. It's not just about getting the work done anymore. It's about a deeper kind of malaise

affecting the team's spirit. And that's incredibly difficult for a leader who cares but feels powerless to change the underlying dynamic. Yeah. And this emphasizes precisely why manager engagement matters so much. Because they influence the team so heavily. Hugely. Gallup's research states it plainly.

70% of team engagement is attributable to the manager. 70%, that's a profound lever. It is. And when employees are engaged, they're demonstrably more productive, they're less absent, they build better customer relationships. They close more sales. It's a direct measurable line from the manager to team success and ultimately to the organization's health.

The report also includes direct employee perspective that really highlight this manager influence, for better or worse. Ah, okay. So what do employees say? Well, Elke H, an administrative clerk in Germany, said her supervisor was by far the deciding factor that made me think about whether I really wanted to continue with this. Wow. Let's take a quick break. Hey, it's Mark.

And we have a new product for you. It's called the Employee Survival Guide or Employeesurvival.com. And it's a site that you can obtain PDF products that I created myself. I was spending too many hours, way too many researching and writing about, for example, the performance improvement plan or beating them. And the second one about negotiating severance negotiation agreements, two of the most important topics that we see in terms of the web traffic and podcast traffic we have. So check out Employeesurvival.com and see if this can try to help you and you don't need an attorney to use it.

Thank you. So a manager can literally be the reason someone stays or leaves. That's a huge impact on retention. Absolutely. Yeah. So a manager can literally be the reason someone stays or leaves. That's a huge impact on retention. Absolutely. But conversely, positive management leads to really positive outcomes. Mohammed Owal, a teacher in Saudi Arabia, she noted, I am satisfied with my job because I receive appreciation and incentives from the management.

So recognition matters. And I am also satisfied with what I provide for the children. It's clear how that recognition and sense of contribution fostered by good management drives satisfaction. Makes sense. And then there's the human connection aspect. Lethe D, a clerk in South Africa, described her best manager as somebody

who wants to see me shine, you know, grow, somebody who motivates and encourages you. She finishes, those were the best motivates and encourages you. She finishes. Those were the best moments I've ever had with her. That's powerful. It's not just about tasks, is it? It's about support, development, the manager as a true champion. And these examples, they really underscore the critical point.

If managers are disengaged, their teams tend to follow suit. A direct link. Yeah. This correlation is so strong, it even shows up in country-level data. Countries with less engaged managers, they're more likely to have less engaged individual contributors.

So if manager engagement keeps declining. It won't stop with managers, and it won't stop with just engagement. The productivity of the entire global workplace is fundamentally at risk here. So we're basically talking about a systemic failure to support the very people we trust with the human capital of our organization.

That's one way to look at it, yeah. What are the long-term ramifications if this trend isn't reversed beyond just the immediate productivity hit we talked about? Oh, the ramifications are deeply unsettling, I think. Beyond the economic cost, it's really a decline in human potential. How so?

It means a less innovative workforce, probably higher rates of mental health issues due to stress, and just a general erosion of purpose and meaning in work for many people. It creates a kind of domino effect. Exactly, one that impacts not just the workplace, but individual lives and whole societies. And this ties directly into the report's other big finding on overall well-being.

Which they call life evaluation. Right. That's a powerful connection. The report explains that global employee life evaluations also fell. Only 33% of employees are now classified as thriving in the last couple of years. And it's important to note, like you said, life evaluation includes outside factors too. Yeah, like rising housing costs, inflation. Gallup specifically notes this for regions

like the U.S. Canada and Australia and New Zealand where thriving saw historic drops. But crucially, work undeniably plays a major role in this overall feeling of thriving. And guess who's hurting most again. Let me guess managers bingo Older managers saw a five percentage point decline in well-being in the past year Okay, and female managers again and even steeper seven percentage point drop seven points again

Wow And this is especially poignant because individual contributor life evaluations actually improved slightly during the same period So everyone else is doing slightly better, but managers, particularly older and female managers, are doing significantly worse in terms of overall well-being. Exactly. It really paints a picture of managers just shouldering an outsized burden right now. And a personal impact is clear from the quotes too, right?

Painfully clear. Anna Lise, an operations manager in Germany, she captured it vividly. She said, I noticed that I'm physically tired, but I can't sleep and can't switch off. Oof. You can absolutely hear the classic signs of burnout in that statement. It just speaks volumes about the relentless pressure seeping into their personal lives. It really highlights that artificial boundary we sometimes try to create between work life and home life. They're inextricably linked. The report makes that clear.

Gallup points out that half of employees who are engaged at work, they're thriving in life overall. Compared to only a third of those who are not engaged. Right. And engaged employees also report significantly less stress. This connection between a supportive work environment and overall life quality, it's just undeniable and profound. So the stakes are undeniably high. Manager burnout doesn't just impact the individual manager.

No, it creates that ripple effect you mentioned, declining team performance, more absenteeism, higher turnover. Ultimately eroding an entire organization's health. The picture seems challenging, maybe even a bit bleak. It does. But here's where the report shifts. entire organization's health. The picture seems challenging, maybe even a bit bleak. It does. But here's where the report shifts. It goes from diagnosis to, well, immense opportunity.

The hopeful part. Because hidden within this data, Gallup has uncovered not just a hopeful note, but a truly transformative pathway to a massive productivity boom. Absolutely, this is the exciting part really. Gallup estimates that if the world's workplace was fully engaged, get this.

A staggering U.S. $9.6 trillion in productivity could be added to the global economy. 9.6 trillion. Trillion, to put that in perspective, that's like 9% global GDP. Wow, that's not just large, it's a massive, almost unimaginable opportunity for growth and, well, human flourishing. It really is. So what are these pathways? How do we unlock this trillion

dollar opportunity? The report outlines three crucial actions for leaders. Okay, let's hear them. First up, basic manager training. Seems simple, right? But the problem, as Gallup's data reveals... Is it not enough managers get it? Exactly. Less than half of managers, only 44% have ever received any formal management training. Less than half. That feels like such a, well, an achievable opportunity right there. It really does. And the report found that even rudimentary training,

just covering basic role responsibilities, can cut active manager disengagement in half. Cut it in half. And just to clarify for listeners, when Gallup talks about active disengagement... You don't just mean someone unhappy or checked out. No, these are individuals who might be actively working against the organization, undermining goals, spreading negativity. Maybe actively looking for ways out or encouraging others to leave.

So literally having that group, that's a profound impact on an organization's internal health and efficiency. Absolutely. It suggests that even just basic support, basic clarity on expectations, can stop managers feeling like they're drowning or fighting this impossible battle alone. There's a great quote illustrating this. Abu Abdullah A, a supervisor in Saudi Arabia, said after training, I learned new methods of working and how to deal with employees,

and it helped me a lot with regard to the challenges I face at work. That's a powerful testament. Simple, effective help. Truly is. Okay, the second action. Teaching managers effective coaching techniques. Going beyond just the basics. Right. Gallup's analysis found that training focused on actual best practices. It leads to 20 to 28% higher manager performance. 20 to 28% better performance. And what about team engagement? Up to 18% higher team engagement. That's significant. And are these benefits just a short-term boost? That's the compelling part. No, they were

observed nine to 18 months after the training. Okay, so it's lasting It highlights that compounding influence of good coaching and development over time. Exactly. Brian V, a systems engineer in the UK He summarized the impact of a well-coached cohesive team beautifully What did he say? If we are all working going in the same direction getting on with each other being thankful to each other and respect Each other that it makes anything you do easier. Even if the project itself is going through some tough times. That quote really drives home the idea that strong team dynamics, fostered by good coaching, can be like an antidote even when things get tough. Right. Okay. And finally, the third action, ongoing manager development, specifically aimed at boosting well-being. So continuous support.

Yes. When employers provide that initial manager training we talked about, it improves manager thriving levels from 28% up to 34%, which is good. Six points. Okay. But here's the kicker. With ongoing encouragement for development, manager thriving jumps even further, all the way to 50%.

From 34% to 50%, just by encouraging ongoing development. That's what the data shows. Wow. That makes manager training and development one of the most effective well-being initiatives employers can actually invest in. Exactly. It's not just about building skills.

It's about making managers feel supported, seen, capable of handling their huge responsibilities. Iwa, a team leader in Poland, she articulated this value perfectly. I still have opportunities for development within the company, because the company offers various training and so on. That's also very important to me and motivates me to be in this job every day and give my best. You can hear the motivation in her voice. That sense of growth potential matters. It really does. Now these global numbers give us a crucial overview, but

the report also provides a really fascinating global snapshot. It shows the incredibly diverse experiences across different regions. Right, because the global average doesn't tell the whole story. Not at all. And you, the listener, might relate more directly to some of these regional insights and see how, you know, how your corner of the world stacks up. OK, let's look at some highlights, starting with engagement. Where's highest? The United States and Canada, along with Latin America and the Caribbean, they're tied for the highest regional engagement, both at 31 percent. 31 percent. OK, a decent benchmark suggesting relatively healthy work environments there,

on average. But then you look across the Atlantic and it's a really stark contrast. Europe has the lowest engagement. Any guesses? Hmm, lower. Maybe 15 percent? Lower. Just 13 percent.

13 percent. Wow. That feels incredibly low. It is. And it means a massive 73 percent of employees in Europe are classified as not engaged. It really makes you wonder about the cultural factors, the economic factors at play there. Absolutely.

Is it deeply embedded workplace norms that maybe don't prioritize individual recognition as much, different work-life balance expectations leading to more detachment? Or maybe a more critical view of leadership than elsewhere. The report doesn't give a definitive why, but it certainly opens up a fascinating line of inquiry leading to more detachment. Or maybe a more critical view of leadership than elsewhere. The report doesn't give a definitive why, but it certainly opens up a fascinating line of inquiry into the unique pressures and cultural nuances contributing to such widespread disengagement

across Europe. And the Middle East and North Africa region is second lowest at 14 percent, so similar challenges there. OK, what about overall well-being or thriving? Where is that highest? That would be Australia and New Zealand. They boast the highest thriving at 56%. 56%.

That suggests a pretty high quality of life and maybe good work-life integration for a lot of their workforce. It does. But then you have South Asia, which has the lowest thriving at a really concerning 15%. 15% thriving? That's low. Followed closely by Sub-Saharan Africa at 18%. These numbers are quite alarming, suggesting really profound challenges impacting people's

overall life satisfaction inside and outside of work. Yeah, it could be economic hardship, social pressures, tough workplace conditions, or a combination. And in terms of daily emotions, the picture gets even more nuanced, maybe even heartbreaking. South Asia also leads in daily anger. Anger? How high? 34% report daily anger and sadness at 39%.

Wow. That's a significant portion of the workforce experiencing those negative emotions every single day. It paints a picture of immense emotional strain. It really does. Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan Africa stands out with the highest reported loneliness at 30%. Loneliness, 30%. That could speak to issues of social connection maybe in the workplace or broader society. Interestingly, on the flip side, post-Soviet Eurasia reports the lowest stress levels at just 21%.

Lowest stress? That's quite a contrast. Maybe a different cultural approach to pressure or just different economic realities. Meanwhile, where do you think the United States and Canada rank for stress, given their high engagement? Hmm, high engagement, maybe mid-range stress. Actually, second highest stress globally at 50%. 50% stress, wow. So, high engagement but also high pressure. That points to those intense, competitive, fast-paced work environments, even if engagement metrics look relatively good.

Exactly. Okay, finally, let's quickly touch on job market perspectives. This often signals confidence or maybe desperation. Right. Who feels it's a good time to find a job? Australia and New Zealand again. They continue to impress, having the highest percentage of people who think it's a good time to find a job, 72%. 72%. That indicates a really dynamic, accessible job market feel. Conversely, the Middle East and North Africa has the lowest, just 34%, think it's a good time. Suggests a much tighter or maybe less optimistic job landscape there.

Okay. And is there a region where people are looking to leave their jobs most? Yes, and here's a big one that really speaks to profound dissatisfaction. Sub-Saharan Africa. They have the highest intent to leave their current job. How high? A striking 72% are either watching for or actively seeking a new one. And 72% looking to leave, wow, that's huge. These regional differences really powerfully underscore that while we see broad global trends Oracle context matter massively cultural norms, economic realities, they significantly shaped the employee experience.

It tells us that a one size fits all solution for engagement and well-being. It just won't work. No, definitely not. So to recap, we've seen the global workplace is truly at a critical juncture. Manager engagement, employee well-being, they're on the decline, costing the global economy hundreds of billions. But crucially, this deep dive into Gallup's report has also shown us clear, actionable pathways. Pathways to potentially massive productivity gains through focused leadership and importantly, development. It truly is a pivotal moment, as the CEO said.

And the choices leaders make now will profoundly shape the future of work. So what does this all mean for your work life? For you listening right now. Yeah. If AI is set to transform industries and manager engagement is revealed as perhaps the single biggest lover for team success, for human thriving. How will organizations use these insights? Will they use them to elevate human potential

or risk diminishing it further? And maybe more personally, what's one step you can take? Or perhaps encouraging your own workplace to foster better engagement, better thriving. Whether you're a manager trying to support your team or you're an individual contributor influencing your own experience and the environment around you. This deep dive really shows us, I think,

that the future of work isn't just about the technology. It's profoundly about human connection. Empathetic leadership, strategic development, it's about the people. We encourage you to reflect on these findings. Consider how you might apply some of these insights in your own professional sphere and maybe be part of the solution. If you like the Employee Survival Guide, I'd really encourage you to leave a review.

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