The managers’ breakdown: disengaged, stressed, and actively seeking new jobs
Gallup just published its State of the Global Workplace Report — and things aren’t looking good. Employees, especially managers, feel disconnected, and that has consequences for businesses.
Manager engagement affects team engagement, which affects productivity, which ultimately affects revenue. It’s a chain reaction you can’t ignore.
Here are a few numbers that show how big the picture really is:
When it comes to overall life evaluation, 33% are thriving. But 58% are… struggling.
There’s a bit of good news when you zoom in on the regions.
Europe:
(By the way, Romanians are leading in engagement at 35%, with Poland, France, Switzerland, and Croatia trailing at just 7–8%.)
Latin America:
Local wins are encouraging, but they don’t change the bigger picture: across the world, as AI speeds up change, people are feeling more disconnected than ever.
That leaves leaders facing a double challenge: how to tap into AI’s full potential without breaking the human connections that make work meaningful. How do you still build friendships at work, a sense of being heard, and genuine care?
It starts with offering management training. It continues with teaching coaching techniques. But most importantly, it’s about creating those real, human moments that only happen when people are together in person.
Anca Serban, Head of Marketing @ Pluria
Thought Leadership
State of the Global Workplace Report (Gallup)
Work Trend Index (Microsoft)
2025 Chief Transformation Officer Study (Deloitte)
Future of Work News
Tech Workers Are Just Like the Rest of Us: Miserable at Work (The Wall Street Journal)
Research giant chops headquarters in half in response to hybrid work model (CoStar)
Google forcing some remote workers to come back 3 days a week or lose their jobs (CNBC)
Intel mandates four days in the office (Tech Crunch)
Job Cuts—And Less Hybrid Work—Are Coming to Intel, CEO Says (Investopedia)
Why hybrid work makes conflict harder to address—and what great leaders do about it (Fast Company)
UK risks ‘lost generation’ of young workers, business warns (Financial Times)
Microsoft says everyone will be a boss in the future – of AI employees (The Guardian)
Offices Ditch Harsh Fluorescent Lights. New Tech Is On the Way. (The Wall Street Journal)
I negotiated to make my hybrid role fully remote so I could spend more time at home. It was a mistake. (Business Insider)