Global Employee Disengagement Costs $10 Trillion, Gallup Finds

Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report shows that only 20% of workers worldwide are engaged, while 64% are not engaged and 16% are actively disengaged. The study estimates the resulting productivity loss at $10 trillion annually – about 9% of global GDP – with the United States alone accounting for roughly $2 trillion of that loss. Engagement has slipped from 23% in 2022 to 20% in 2025, and manager engagement has dropped from 31% to 22% over the same period.

Analysts argue the root cause is leadership disconnection rather than employee attitude, noting that distance between leaders and frontline work fuels disengagement. Gallup links higher engagement to clear business benefits, such as 23% higher profitability and 43% lower turnover for top‑quartile teams. The report also highlights the growing role of People Analytics in measuring training impact and addressing the disengagement challenge.