Do you have engaged employees? Consider yourself lucky! They are a minority in the working world according to two recently published studies. Analysis.
The first is the annual global survey “State of a Global Workplace” on work engagement conducted by the American firm Gallup for about fifteen years. A global reference: more than 227,000 employees were interviewed in 160 countries between April 2024 and March 2025.
The main finding? Only one employee in the world out of five is engaged in their work (21%), a figure slightly down from last year (-2 points).
Worse: 62% do not consider themselves engaged and 17% even say they are “actively disengaged” (+2 points)! A testimony recalling the concept of “quiet quitting”.
How can these unflattering figures be explained?
According to Gallup, the decline in engagement this year comes mainly from a demotivation of managers, whose overall engagement level dropped from 30% to 27% (while that of non-managerial employees remains stable at 18%). Particularly managers under 35 years old (-5 points) and women (-7 points).
“This drop in engagement translates into a cost for the global economy of 438 billion dollars in lost productivity,” estimates Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, in the foreword of this major study of nearly 150 pages.
From a geographical point of view, engagement is stronger in the United States (31%) than in Canada (21%) and than in Europe (13%), the continent that brings up the rear in this matter.
Interesting to note that the majority of Canadians (58%) feel stressed at work, much more than the global average (40%). 19% are even often angry or 23% feel sadness.
Let’s nuance the point however. In the long term, work engagement has nevertheless increased by more than 5 points compared to the pre-pandemic period. Proof of some awareness. This is in any case what the second study conducted among 38,000 workers by ADP Research recalls, which obtains globally the same engagement figures (19%) as Gallup.
The Remote Work Dilemma
The latter brings interesting explanatory elements even if they may seem contradictory at first glance. Thus, the progressive return and in larger proportion to the office seems to explain part of the decline in employee engagement. As is the case in Canada, a country where engagement dropped by 3 points according to ADP (19%).
In 2025, 53% of Canadians work constantly at the office while they were only 46% last year (21% remote work and 25% in hybrid mode, compared to respectively 26% and 28% in 2024).
“Respondents who had the latitude to choose their daily workplace were more likely to be fully engaged than less autonomous workers,” the document indicates.
ADP Research experts specify however that the issue here is less the workplace than the level of flexibility, freedom and autonomy that employees can enjoy.
Thus in Canada, 18% of people working on site are engaged. Those who are always remote? 12%! The best score is achieved for hybrid workers (25%), a constant almost everywhere in the world.
The Driving Force of the Team
Furthermore, another determinant seems to play a role in a person’s engagement: the quality of the team.
“Being part of a team is not sufficient. It must be of high quality,” the report states.
Half of the people (55%) who believe they work in this type of environment declare themselves engaged compared to… only 10% of those who work alongside a “normal” team! Everyone pulls each other up. In Canada, 20% of respondents praise the quality of their work partners.
Flexibility and quality of colleagues: here in summary are the two action levers for engagement to activate as a priority!
