Your boss is not okay: How manager burnout is dragging down the entire workplace

If you’re feeling detached from work and lacking motivation lately, know that you are not alone.

Gallup’s most recent State of the Global Workplace report revealed that employee engagement fell to 21% in 2024, declining 2 points from the previous year. In the last 12 years, employee engagement has only fallen one other time, in 2020, due in part to COVID-19, the shift to working from home, and increased isolation.

The report “offers what may be our last snapshot of a workforce on the cusp of seismic change,” Gallup CEO Jon Clifton said in the report. “We are witnessing a pivotal moment in the global workplace—one where engagement is faltering at the exact time artificial intelligence is transforming every industry in its path.”

The most recent decline can be linked to disruptions in the workplace over the last five years, including layoffs, the introduction of AI across industries, ongoing friction around return-to-office (RTO) policies, and more.

Broken down by region, the U.S. and Canada tied with Latin America and the Caribbean for the region with the highest engaged employees—although the percentage was still low, with less than a third being engaged. The region also ranked at the top for employees experiencing daily stress.

Managers need help

The report found that the global decline in engagement centers around one particularly affected group: managers. Managers under 35 years old and female managers were the most affected, with engagement declining by 5 and 7 percentage points, respectively.

The findings suggest that a lack of engagement from the top is trickling down to employees, and resulted in a loss of $438 billion in productivity to the world economy.

Despite the declining rates, Gallup identified ways that employers can take action and lean toward a productivity boom:

• First, training managers on basic roles may boost engagement, with 44% of managers reporting a lack of training.
• Second, Gallup suggests teaching managers techniques for effective coaching, which could boost performance by up to 28%.
• Lastly, improving manager well-being should be prioritized, with manager development training and an encouraging peer working environment boosting well-being by up to 50%.