12 Employee Engagement Statistics to Track in 2026

HR Analytics

7 minutes

December 29, 2025

Written by Yağmur Erge

Employee engagement statistics are crucial for a company in a business world where qualified employees are in higher demand than ever before.

However, what are employee engagement statistics, and how can these statistics be used to retain talented employees in the long run?

This content will include the definition of employee engagement, the importance of employee engagement statistics, and the best stats to improve employee engagement strategies.

What Is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement refers to an employee's excitement, commitment, and emotional connection to their job and organization. It displays their willingness to help, their participation in daily work, and their strong belief in the company's future. Engaged employees are more likely to be productive, perform well, and have a great desire to stay in their organizations in the long run.

For this reason, statistics for employee engagement are valuable for companies to understand and address engagement challenges in the workplace.

What Are the Benefits of Employee Engagement Statistics?

There are numerous employee engagement problems in the competitive business world, where talented employees are becoming more important for employers who are often at risk of increasing turnover rates. Tracking statistics on employee engagement plays an important role in helping them overcome these problems.

Employee engagement stats help organizations determine the level of motivation and dedication among their staff members. They demonstrate what is working well and what requires improvement. With this information, managers can make more informed choices about communication, leadership, and workplace culture.

These statistics can also help businesses in enhancing their results. Employees who are engaged are more likely to be productive, stay longer in their jobs, and deliver better customer service. Companies that monitor engagement statistics can reduce turnover rate, boost performance, and promote long-term growth.

Employee Engagement Statistics 2026

Understanding employee engagement trends is crucial for a company to retain its most talented employees and stay ahead of the competition. Here are the best employee engagement statistics to learn about trends for employee engagement:

1. Levels of employee engagement show widespread disengagement at work

According to Gallup’s statistics about employee engagement, 59% of employees are leaving quietly (not engaged), whereas 18% are quitting loudly (actively disengaged). Employees who often leave their jobs tend to identify issues such as employee engagement, culture, well-being, or pay and benefits as areas they would like to improve in their current role.

2. Employee engagement boosts profitability by 21%, productivity by 17%, and decreases turnover by 59%

One of the important studies on employee engagement investigates the effect of engagement on business performance. The findings demonstrate that companies with highly engaged employees experience a 21% increase in profitability, a 17% boost in productivity, and a 59% decrease in voluntary turnover. The study identifies leadership, recognition programs, and work-life balance as critical elements in maintaining high employee engagement.

3. Employee disengagement drives job searches

Gallup’s employee engagement survey states that over half (51%) of the employees worldwide who an employer employs are actively seeking a new position or keeping an eye out for opportunities. Employees who are actively disengaged are 42% more likely to be actively looking or watching for job vacancies than engaged staff members.

4. Employers are not providing the employee experience they promised

According to Kincentric 2023 Research, almost half of employees (49%) believe their employer is not providing the employee experience they were promised. Many employees believe that expectations set during the hiring process are not upheld once on the job. This disparity leads to employee dissatisfaction and a decline in trust in employers.

5. Globally, 27% of managers are engaged in their jobs

Gallup’s study on employee engagement shows that manager engagement decreased from 30% to 27% in 2024. The biggest drops were seen by female and young managers.

It is important to note that teams are disengaged when their managers are. The manager is responsible for 70% of the team's engagement. For this reason, the manager's role needs to be reconsidered.

6. The second most significant factor influencing employee engagement is flexible working hours

According to the Workforce 2024 Report, flexible work schedules rank as the second most important workforce priority and are crucial for both employee retention and job choice in 2024.

While women value flexibility slightly more than men and older workers more than younger ones, this preference is consistent across roles, geographical areas, and age groups.

Work-life balance is becoming more and more important to employees, as evidenced by the fact that flexibility is often just as important as pay. Interestingly, 60% of workers claim that if flexible work schedules were offered, they would continue at a job they dislike.

7. Burnout is common in today's workplace among American workers

Since high burnout often leads to employees quitting their current jobs, employee engagement and burnout are closely linked.

An important employee engagement research among American workers indicates that 76% of employees and 63% of managers experience burnout or ambivalence in their jobs. Although 89% of managers believe their staff are performing well, just 24% of employees agree with this opinion. This wide disparity demonstrates that managers frequently overlook burnout warning signs, leaving staff members feeling unsupported and more inclined to consider quitting.

8. The world economy lost $438 billion as a result of employee disengagement

According to Gallup, employee disengagement is a major worldwide issue. Due to decreased productivity, low engagement cost the global economy $438 billion in 2024. Employee engagement fell to 21% globally, indicating that numerous employees are not completely engaged with their jobs.

While disengaged employees reduce productivity and growth, engaged team members perform better, produce greater business results, and directly enhance organizational performance.

9. 90% of employees want their jobs to have a purpose

A 2022 LinkedIn survey run by Harvard Business Publishing Corporate states that ninety percent of executives and employees worldwide believe that their jobs should provide them a feeling of meaning in life. Increasingly, people want their work to be more than just a means of earning a living. This demonstrates that employee expectations at work now heavily rely on purpose.

10. Fully remote workers are more engaged than even their hybrid peers

Yomly's noteworthy statistic on remote employee engagement indicates that employees working fully remotely report higher levels of engagement. Compared to 23% in hybrid positions and 19% in entirely on-site roles, 31% of fully remote workers report feeling engaged at work, according to recent studies, which provides a good guide for setting remote employee engagement strategies.

11. Companies with the greatest levels of employee engagement earn 23% more profit

It is a fact that business profitability is correlated with employee engagement. Gallup shows that businesses with highly engaged employees are 18% more productive and 23% more profitable than those with disengaged employees. Because they are more creative, productive, and have improved customer retention rates, engaged workers perform better than their colleagues.

12. A good onboarding experience has a positive effect on employee engagement

According to BambooHR, over 80% of workers who report having a good employee onboarding experience are more likely to stay in their jobs. This demonstrates the significance of having an effective onboarding process, which can foster employee loyalty in the long term.

Conclusion

In this content, you have discovered what employee engagement is, what employee engagement statistics benefits are, and the top employee engagement statistics you should know to take your company's success to the next level by retaining talented employees.

Whether you are an employer, HR professional, or simply someone interested in HR topics, these statistics are useful for gaining insights into strategies to boost employee engagement. Furthermore, you can visit Hirex for much more HR content to explore!