Employee Engagement Statistics 2026: US and Global Data

The most recent US employee engagement statistics come from Gallup, which reported on October 28, 2026 that 29% of US employees were engaged at work in the third quarter of 2026. That is down from 31% in the first half of the year and below the 36% peak Gallup measured in 2020. This page collects the latest Gallup employee engagement statistics for the US and the world, with the sample, field dates and original link beside each figure, so you can cite them or check them.

US employee engagement in 2026

Gallup surveys US adults who work full or part time through its Gallup Panel every quarter. The latest release reports Q3 2026 results from 21,648 adults surveyed August 5 to 19, 2026, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.9 points. Gallup's October 28, 2026 article reports:

• 29% of US employees engaged in Q3 2026.
• 18% actively disengaged, up from 17% in Q2 2026.
• 53% not engaged, meaning they are neither engaged nor actively disengaged.
• Q2 2026 used 22,573 adults surveyed May 6 to 20, and Q1 2026 used 23,717 adults surveyed February 4 to 19.

Gallup's mid-year report, published July 21, 2026, put the first half of 2026 at 31% engaged and 18% actively disengaged. It describes that 31% as "unchanged from 2025." That report used 43,262 responses from US adults, collected February 4 to 19 and May 6 to 20, 2026.

Gallup translates the movement into headcount: each percentage point of engagement represents about 1.6 million US employees. It estimates the Q3 drop equals about 3.2 million fewer engaged workers, and about 11 million fewer than in 2020.

What this means for employers: A one-quarter dip of two points is small, but it follows a pattern of lower readings since 2020 in Gallup's data. Treat national numbers as context and measure your own team, with a short pulse survey and regular one-on-one reviews, before you act on them.

US engagement trend by year

Gallup reports US engagement in two ways, and they do not match exactly. Its quarterly panel results give 36% in 2020, 31% in 2024 and 31% for 2025 as a whole (Gallup, January 27, 2026, based on 78,945 US adults surveyed quarterly in 2025). Its State of the Global Workplace country data uses three-year rolling averages, which smooth the series and show 32% for 2025. Both are Gallup figures from different methods.

When Gallup began tracking US engagement in 2000, it recorded 26% engaged and 18% actively disengaged. Between 2000 and 2013, engagement stayed between 26% and 30% (Gallup, Q3 2026 article). The full rolling series from the US country-level data is below.

Read the table with the method in mind: each year is an average of three years of data. The share actively disengaged in that series was 13% at the 2020 reading and 17% at 2024 and 2025. In its August 2025 article, Gallup reported 30% engagement in 2024 and 32% at midyear 2025, based on 17,660 adults surveyed May 7 to 16, 2025. Its January 2026 article puts 2024 and 2025 both at 31%, so quote the source and period together.

What this means for employers: A line near 30% for more than a decade means engagement does not improve on its own. Plan for it as a management task with owners and dates, not a survey result you look at once a year.

Global employee engagement

Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report covers 2025 data from the Gallup World Poll plus extra US working-population web samples. The 2025 sample was 263,810 respondents, of whom 141,444 were employed, interviewed January to December 2025.

• 20% of employees worldwide were engaged in 2025, down from a 2022 peak of 23%.
• It is the first time global engagement has dropped two consecutive years, and the 2025 level is the lowest since 2020.
• Each percentage point of global engagement equals about 21 million employees, per Gallup.
• No world region increased engagement in 2025. The largest drop was in South Asia, down 5 points.
• Gallup's engagement indicator page lists 20% of employees worldwide engaged and 16% actively disengaged in 2025.

The US and Canada region tops this list at 31%, while Europe is at 12%. Gallup's US country page puts the United States at 32%, against that 31% regional average and a 20% global average. Survey modes differ by country (the US sample is collected by web, most World Poll countries face to face or by phone), so use the regional chart for context rather than as a strict ranking.

What this means for employers: A US employer operates in a relatively engaged labor market by global standards, yet fewer than one in three employees say they are engaged. Gallup's engagement indicator says best-practice organizations have an average engagement rate of 70%, which shows what is possible.

Manager engagement

Managers set the tone for teams, and Gallup's numbers on them dropped faster than on anyone else in 2025.

• Global manager engagement was 22% in 2025, down nine points from 31% in 2022. The largest one-year fall was 2024 to 2025, from 27% to 22% (Gallup 2026 global report).
• Non-manager engagement worldwide was 19% in 2025, versus 20% in 2022. Leaders were 26% engaged.
• US managers were 36% engaged in 2025, according to the description of Gallup's chart.
• At best-practice organizations, 79% of managers are engaged.
• Managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement (Gallup).

In the mid-year 2026 US report, Gallup said managers had one of the sharpest declines in engagement since 2020, alongside hybrid workers and younger workers, without giving percentages (Gallup, July 21, 2026).

What this means for employers: If you want engaged crews, look at the manager first. Give supervisors clear goals, a manageable team size and a regular, structured way to talk about performance with each person.

Engagement by work arrangement and generation

Gallup's hybrid work indicator shows engagement by where people work, with data as of August 2026. Among US employees with remote-capable jobs, 54% were hybrid, 25% exclusively remote and 21% on-site in August 2026.

Exclusively remote workers were the most engaged at 32%, and on-site workers in jobs that cannot be done remotely the least engaged at 27%, though the gaps are only a few points. In the Q3 2026 results, Gallup said engagement fell 5 points among fully remote employees, 2 points among hybrid employees and about 1 point among on-site employees and those in jobs that cannot be done remotely (Gallup, October 28, 2026).

By generation, Gallup reports changes rather than levels. From 2020 to 2025:

Source: Gallup, January 27, 2026. Absolute engagement levels by generation are not reported in that article. The sample was 78,945 US adults aged 18 and older, with a margin of error of plus or minus 0.5 points.

What this means for employers: Hourly and shift-based teams mostly work on-site, where Gallup's figures are lowest. Reach them through tools they actually use, such as a phone app for schedules, pay stubs and announcements, so they get the same communication as desk workers. The Workzenly employee app is one example.

What drives engagement

Gallup says engagement grows when basic needs are met and employees have a chance to contribute, a sense of belonging and opportunities to learn and grow. Items it tracks closely in the US:

• Clarity of expectations. The share who strongly agreed they know what is expected of them was 49% in the first half of 2026 and 46% in Q3 2026. Q3 matches the 2024 average low, and the 2015 high was 61%.
• Feeling cared about as a person. 40% strongly agreed in the first half of 2026 and 37% in Q3, against a March 2020 peak of 47%.
• A clear definition of excellence. Fewer than a third of leaders strongly agree they have one, and about one in five other employees do. Managers and individual contributors with this clarity are nearly four times as likely to be engaged, and leaders nearly three times (Gallup, January 27, 2026; Q3 2025 sample of 21,923 US workers).
• Manager support for AI. Engagement was 48% among employees who said their manager actively supports AI use, versus 30% for those who did not. With frequent use, a clear plan and manager support together, engagement reached 53% (Gallup, July 21, 2026).

Gallup's engagement indicator also lists how US employees answered the individual workplace items as of August 2026. These employee engagement statistics show where the gaps are:

Only 29% reported a progress discussion in the past six months and 27% received recognition in the past week. Both are things a manager controls directly.

These are associations in survey data, not proof that one change causes another. Gallup says organizations with high engagement outperform their peers on profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction and retention. Compared with other employees, engaged employees are 69% less likely to experience burnout and 47% less likely to be job hunting, per its engagement indicator.

What this means for employers: Clarity and care are the cheapest drivers to improve. Put goals in writing, review them on a schedule and give people specific feedback. Our guides on a performance review template and self-performance review examples, plus the free performance review templates, show how to structure those conversations. A good start matters too; see employee onboarding.

The estimated cost of disengagement

Gallup puts dollar figures on low engagement. Both are estimates:

• $10 trillion. "Last year, low engagement cost the world economy approximately $10 trillion in lost productivity, or 9% of GDP," Gallup says in the 2026 global report. The estimate is based on not engaged and actively disengaged employees, and Gallup considers it conservative.
• $2 trillion. In an August 5, 2025 article, Gallup stated: "The cost of disengagement in the U.S. is now approximately $2 trillion in lost productivity."

The US figure comes from a 2025 article and the global figure from the 2026 report, so they cover different periods. Do not add them or compare them as if they were the same year.

What this means for employers: Do not apply national totals to your payroll. Use them as a reason to measure engagement and turnover in your own business, where you can attach real wage and replacement costs.

What the data means for small employers

1. Make expectations explicit. Clarity of expectations slipped from a 61% high in 2015 to 46% in Q3 2026, per Gallup.
2. Support your managers. With global manager engagement at 22% in 2025, a small team with an unsupported supervisor is at risk.
3. Reach on-site staff. Engagement is lowest where jobs cannot be done remotely, at 27% in August 2026.
4. Review on a schedule. Regular, recorded check-ins give each person feedback and give you a record.
5. Track your own numbers. Pulse results, turnover and time-off patterns tell you more about your team than any national average.

About this data

Every figure above comes from Gallup research opened on November 13, 2026. Gallup's US engagement results update quarterly, its State of the Global Workplace report is published annually, and its indicator pages update as new data arrive. We review this page when Gallup releases new US or global data. Journalists and bloggers are welcome to cite this page with a link back to it, and we recommend linking Gallup's original as well. Pew Research Center and the American Psychological Association also publish worker surveys; their pages were not available to us when this page was written, so no figures from them appear here.

More workforce statistics: Job satisfaction statistics · Burnout statistics · Employee retention statistics · Remote work statistics.

Sources

1. Gallup, "U.S. Employee Engagement Below 30% for First Time in 15 Years" (Q3 2026), October 28, 2026. gallup.com/workplace/716117
2. Gallup, "Employee Engagement Remains Flat as AI Adoption Accelerates," July 21, 2026. gallup.com/workplace/712433
3. Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report (2025 data). gallup.com/workplace/349484
4. Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: United States country-level data (data collected January to December 2025). gallup.com/workplace/704063
5. Gallup, State of the Global Workplace regional data (2025). gallup.com/workplace/697850
6. Gallup, Global Indicator: Employee Engagement (2025 and August 2026 figures). gallup.com/394373
7. Gallup, Global Indicator: Hybrid Work (data as of August 2026). gallup.com/401384
8. Gallup, "U.S. Employee Engagement Declines From 2020 Peak," January 27, 2026. gallup.com/workplace/701486
9. Gallup, "Anemic Employee Engagement Points to Leadership Challenges," August 5, 2025. gallup.com/workplace/692954

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