How engaged are your employees — really?
If you’re anything like the majority of companies, there’s definitely room for improvement.
And that matters. Because employee engagement impacts everything from productivity to employee retention to overall business performance.
These employee engagement statistics can help you find a path forward. They reveal what’s working and what isn’t, and can hopefully provide some inspired ideas for your engagement strategy.
Where have these stats come from?
We’ve collated the latest employee engagement statistics from across the world with findings from our own, UK-based, frontline-focused research to give you a comprehensive insight into workplace engagement in 2026.
Our research surveyed 1000 respondents over the age of 18 from the United Kingdom. At the time of the survey, respondents held frontline roles in both public and private health and social care.
General employee engagement statistics
An engaged employee is someone who’s committed to their employer and invested in their role. They feel connected to their organization, experience job satisfaction, and tend to feel motivated while at work.
So how many workers actually feel this way? Let’s start with some statistics that reveal the current state of employee engagement in companies across the world.
1. According to Gallup’s 2025 State of the Global Workplace report, just 21% of employees are engaged at work. That’s down from 23% in 2023.
2. In the US, the picture is slightly better. Here, 31% of workers are engaged and 52% describe themselves as thriving.
3. In 2024, manager engagement fell from 30% to 27%. That’s a big issue because managers account for 70% of the variance in team employee engagement.
4. The recent drop in employee engagement cost the world economy $438 billion in lost productivity.
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Impact of employee engagement statistics
When employee engagement isn’t what it could be, it has a big impact on a business.
5. According to Gallup research, when compared to companies with low engagement, highly engaged companies experience the following:
- 81% drop in absenteeism
- 64% reduction in safety incidents
- 41% reduction in quality defects
- 18% increase in productivity
- 23% improvement in profitability
6. Employee engagement impacts customer experience, too. Companies with a top-rated employee experience are more than twice as likely as other organizations to achieve a top-rated customer experience.
7. Engaged employees are more loyal to your organization. By improving employee engagement, high-turnover organizations can reduce turnover by 18% and low-turnover organizations can reduce it by 43%.
Statistics on employee engagement and retention
While we’re on the topic of talent retention, let’s dig a little deeper. What drives employees to leave your organization? And how many are currently eyeing the job boards?
The following employee engagement statistics give insight into what steps you can take to reduce employee turnover.
8. We know that 50% of workers are watching for or actively seeking a new job right now.
9. Turnover isn’t the only issue facing employers. 1 in 5 UK workers is “quiet quitting.” They’re doing the bare minimum while not actively looking for another job.
10. Work-life balance is an important consideration when deciding where to work. 46% of employees list this as the main reason for staying in their current role. This compares to 23% who list competitive pay and benefits as the primary reason for staying.
11. Learning and career advancement are closely linked to employee engagement. 31% of employees have quit a role due to a lack of career progression. And 42% of employees say they’d quit if no L&D opportunities were offered.
12. It’s clear that people want to feel part of a welcoming and inclusive company culture. 55% of employees say they’d quit their job if they felt they didn’t belong.
13. Employee recognition is another powerful driver of employee engagement and retention. Well-recognized employees are 45% less likely to leave their roles within two years.
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Internal communication and employee engagement statistics
Connected, communicative organizations can count on higher rates of engagement. Here’s how internal communications are impacting the employee experience.
14. 93% of internal communicators say they are held either jointly or solely responsible for employee engagement in their organization.
15. 70% of people who intend to stay with their employer for the long term rate communication as “excellent”. This drops to just 24% of people who rate communication as “good”.
16. According to Gallup research, only 47% of employees strongly agree that they know what is expected of them at work and only 32% feel strongly connected to their organization’s mission or purpose.
17. 26% of UK employees are “deeply disconnected”. They rarely hear from their CEO or senior leaders and have overwhelmingly negative views of leadership communication.
18. Just 13% of employees give their organization top marks for internal communication. And in our research, almost one-fifth of workers said they didn’t receive relevant communications from their employer.
19. Teams aren’t always aligned with company goals. Only 15% of staff fully grasp the rationale behind their organization’s strategy.
Frontline employee engagement statistics
Frontline employee engagement can feel particularly tricky. These workers are on the go, working across different locations and different shift patterns. They don’t always have easy access to workplace tech tools — so it’s easy for them to feel disconnected from HQ, company culture, and co-workers.
What do we know about frontline employee engagement in 2026? Here are a few stats.
20. Frontline turnover is often high. But focusing on retention and engagement can save lots of money. Losing a single frontline retail employee costs a retailer nearly $10,000 on average.
21. Only 10% of frontline workers say they have high access to the tools, tech, and opportunities they need to connect and advance in their workplace, and the frontline workforce only gets 1% of companies’ technology budget.
22. Some frontline workers feel unfairly treated and undervalued. 2 in 5 frontline employees say they are viewed as inferior by employees in the office and 39% say their work is not valued as highly as office work.
23. Part of the engagement issue for frontline workers could be internal communication tech. Just 52% of internal communicators say they have the right tools to reach all employees, regardless of location or work type.
24. A fifth (21%) of UK frontline employees are “quiet quitting.” Drivers of disengagement among quiet quitters include a lack of employee recognition, workplace conditions, stress, and ineffective communication.
25. Improving frontline recognition stands to make a big impact. Only 43% of deskless workers feel seen and appreciated at work compared with 61% of desk-based employees.
26. Another driver of engagement for frontline employees is L&D and career progression opportunities. 68% of frontline employees say they’re interested in learning new skills and 73% say they don’t mind learning new skills outside of work hours.
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Workplace technology and employee engagement stats
The tech tools employees are expected to use inevitably impact employee experience and employee engagement. So what’s the current state of workplace tech?
27. Our research shows that one-fifth of workers don’t, or no longer, use their intranet, with two-thirds of those employees unsure about how to log on.
28. Tool overload is becoming a serious problem. One study estimates that the average worker spends 9% of their year — almost 200 hours — switching between workplace apps.
29. Over half of workers (56%) say tool fatigue —produced by toggling, alerts, and redundant platforms — negatively affects their work each week.
30. How you acquire tools is also important. Employees who say they have a lot of influence over which technologies are adopted in their workplace are more than twice as likely to report high job satisfaction as those who have no influence.
31. There’s a tech tool confidence gap between desk-based and deskless workers. 74% of office workers say they feel confident using the latest technology. But only 65% of non-office workers agree.
32. Training is needed, particularly around AI. Nearly half of employees want more investment in AI skills development from their employers.
33. Organizations are using a wide range of tools to improve internal comms and employee engagement. 72% of organizations use an intranet, 75% use enterprise chat tools, and 16% use social and engagement platforms to reach, engage, and align employees.
34. Just 17% of organizations use an employee communication app, but of those that do, the vast majority rate it as an effective tool.
35. According to our research, over one-third (34%) of employees say they don’t have easy access to workplace systems on their smartphones.
Employee listening and employee voice statistics
When employees feel heard in the workplace, they’re more engaged. And when organizations understand how employees are feeling, they can spot issues early, intervening before employee engagement takes a hit.
Take a look at these statistics on employee feedback and listening strategies.
36. 1 in 3 internal communicators say their organization doesn’t have an official employee listening plan.
37. 6 in 10 employees say their organization welcomes open and honest feedback on them as an employer.
38. Only 15% of managers see acting on feedback as a top responsibility. But around 1 in 4 employees say this is what they want most from their managers.
39. Over half of UK employees think their leaders really understand the challenges they face. But this figure drops to fewer than 4 in 10 among non-managerial staff.
40. When assessing how employees feel about work, 76% of organizations use an employee engagement survey. But just 69% of those organizations say that surveys are valuable and effective.
41. It could be that little and often is the way forward. Of the 48% of communicators who use pulse surveys as a listening channel, 60% said they were valuable in providing usable feedback that enabled decisions.
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Remote and hybrid employee engagement statistics
Onto another big section of the workforce — remote and hybrid employees. What do the latest statistics say about their employee experience and levels of employee engagement?
42. According to the Korn Ferry Workforce 2025 survey, of the 59% of global employees who are working full-time in the office, only 19% actually want to be there.
43. Hybrid working is good for emotional well-being. A large proportion of hybrid workers report feeling less drained (79%), less stressed (78%), and less anxious (72%) as a result of spending part of the week working from home.
44. Hybrid working has a positive impact on employee retention. According to one study, resignations fell by 33% among workers who shifted from working full-time in the office to a hybrid schedule.
45. It’s not all good news. 28% of hybrid workers say they feel less connected to organizational culture and 21% say it harms their working relationship with co-workers. Employers need to find ways to bring employees together, even when they’re working from home.
46. Fully remote employees are more likely to look for a new job than hybrid employees. It seems that employees need to feel a connection to the company and co-workers if they’re to stay working for your organization.
47. Gallup has uncovered what it calls “the remote work paradox.” While remote workers enjoy higher levels of engagement (31%) compared to hybrid (23%) and on-site workers (19%), they’re less likely to say they’re thriving in their lives overall. Why? Gallup suggests that remote work is more emotionally and mentally taxing than other forms of work.
Statistics on employee engagement, community, and connection
Another driver of employee engagement? Feelings of connection to company culture and co-workers. So are employers doing enough? Let’s take a look.
48. In 2026, 72% of employees say they have a strong relationship with their manager (up 8 percentage points from 2025), and 63% feel more connected to them than to the company as a whole.
49. Only 2 in 10 US workers feel connected to company culture.
50. 83% of employees want their workplace to provide a sense of community. More than a third are willing to trade higher pay for stronger friendships or social enrichment at work.
51. A strong sense of connection and belonging in the workplace has clear benefits for employers, too. More than 8 in 10 employees say a sense of community improves their work performance.
52. Loneliness is a significant driver of disengagement and turnover. 4 in 10 employees have considered leaving or have actually left their employer because of workplace loneliness.
53. 75% of employees say that celebrating the work of their peers makes them want to stay at their current organization longer.
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Employee well-being statistics
Boosting employee happiness and well-being is another proven way to increase engagement. These stats give us insight into what is most likely to move the needle.
54. Roughly 9 in 10 Gen Zs (89%) and millennials (92%) consider a sense of purpose to be important to their job satisfaction and well-being.
55. 40% of the world’s workforce experiences a lot of daily stress, 21% experience a lot of anger, and 23% experience a lot of sadness.
56. Our research reveals that a quarter of workers don’t believe that their employer cares about their mental well-being.
57. 92% of workers expect their organizations to show care in the workplace, and 83% feel companies have a responsibility for the health and wellbeing of their people.
58. Household budgets are tight right now. 40% of employees have taken on a second job to help with the rising cost of living.
59. 60% of employees say their companies’ benefits do not currently meet their needs, and only 37% feel their organization understands what they need in their personal lives and for their families.
60. Employees who enjoy their work are 49% less likely to say they would consider taking a new job than employees who don’t enjoy their work.
More findings from our Frontline Health Survey
When conducting our Frontline Health Survey, we asked a couple of open-ended questions. These questions gave us real insight into how employees felt about their workplace and employee experience, and we’ve included some of their responses below.
What’s one thing in your day-to-day working life that you wish you could change?
Some responses included:
- To have senior leaders listen to my concerns.
- To feel I can voice concerns in a professional and confidential way.
- To be listened to, respected, and appreciated.
- To receive better communication, interaction, and support.
If you could say one thing to senior management anonymously, what would it be?
Some responses included:
- Please answer my emails and questions. I am trying to do my best at work and would appreciate feeling listened to.
- Listen to us. Listen to your staff.
- Communication, please!
- I don't know, I feel like I don't have much contact with them.
Employees clearly care about giving feedback and seeing their opinions being taken on board. They want two-way communication with leadership, regular recognition, and better workplace support.
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So what do these employee engagement stats mean for business leaders?
The message written in these employee engagement statistics is clear: engagement is central to business success and organizations need to do more.
Across industries, employees are saying the same thing. They want to feel informed. They want to feel heard. They want to feel connected to co-workers and company culture. And they want the tools and support they need to do their jobs well.
When those foundations are missing, disengagement follows — along with lower productivity, higher turnover, and weaker organizational performance.
Here are a few key takeaways.
1. Communication is the foundation of engagement
Internal communication and employee engagement are closely linked. When employees have access to the right comms channels, they feel more connected to leaders, managers, company culture, and each other.
It’s also easy for employees to stay informed and aligned. They get clear updates on where your company is heading, so everyone feels connected to the bigger picture.
2. Employee voice is a powerful driver of engagement
Employees want to be heard. They want to share feedback, raise concerns, and contribute ideas. But too often, communication flows in only one direction.
For every employee to have a voice — including frontline, remote, and hybrid workers — they need easy access to pulse surveys, feedback tools, and open communication channels. Only then can leaders get to know how employees feel and act on that insight quickly.
3. Frontline employees need better tools — and better access
Frontline workers make up the majority of the global workforce, yet many still lack access to the digital tools they need to succeed. When employees feel disconnected from information, co-workers, and leadership, engagement suffers.
Mobile-first employee experience platforms can help to close this gap. They give frontline workers direct access to communication, training, recognition, and support — right from their smartphones.
4. Tool overload is hurting productivity and morale
Employees are losing hundreds of hours each year switching between disconnected tools. This “toggle tax” slows work down, drains energy, and creates frustration.
Organizations are responding by consolidating systems into unified platforms that bring communication, resources, and workflows together. When everything lives in one place, employees spend less time searching — and more time doing meaningful work.
5. Engagement is the key to retention, performance, and growth
Engaged employees stay longer. They perform better. They create better customer experiences. And they help organizations grow faster.
Disengagement, on the other hand, is expensive — costing businesses billions in lost productivity and turnover.
The organizations that lead the way in 2026 and beyond will be those that treat engagement as a priority, investing in the tools, communication, and culture needed to support it.
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What next? How to improve employee engagement in 2026
These employee engagement statistics provide lots of food for thought. There’s a ton of useful information that you can use to inform your employee engagement strategy.
The key pillars? To improve employee engagement at your organization, you need:
- Effective, interactive internal communication that reaches every employee, wherever they work
- A strong workplace culture and a sense of community that connects people to something bigger
- Regular employee recognition that makes employees feel seen and valued
- A focus on employee listening and well-being, with feedback leading to visible action
- Experiences tailored to frontline, remote, and hybrid workers — not just desk-based teams
- Simple, streamlined tools that make work easier, not harder
Get these foundations right and engagement follows. So do retention, productivity, and business performance.
But trying to deliver all this through disconnected tools and outdated systems is an uphill battle. So the one change that stands to make the biggest difference?
Implementing a unified, user-friendly platform that supports all of the above. That’s where Blink comes in.
Blink brings communication, recognition, surveys, resources, and community into one mobile-first platform designed for the realities of today’s workforce. It connects your people to information, support, and each other in just a couple of taps.
Available across both smartphone and desktop devices, and with robust integrations and analytics, Blink has everything you need to improve employee experience, boost employee engagement, and measure your progress, too.
Frequently asked questions
#1. What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is the emotional connection employees feel toward their organization, their work, and their team. Engaged employees feel motivated and committed. They’re more likely to perform well, stay longer, and contribute positively to company culture.
#2. Why is employee engagement important?
Employee engagement directly impacts business performance. Highly engaged employees are more productive, deliver better customer experiences, and are less likely to leave. Low engagement, on the other hand, leads to high turnover, absenteeism, and lost productivity — all of which carry real financial and operational costs.
#3. How can technology improve employee engagement?
The right tech tools make it easier for employees to:
- Access information quickly
- Connect with co-workers
- Share feedback
- Receive recognition
- Complete everyday tasks
Tools have to be user-friendly, mobile-first, and streamlined to improve employee engagement across the whole workforce.
#4. What are the most important employee engagement statistics to know in 2026?
Just 21% of employees are engaged at work. And highly engaged companies experience an 18% increase in productivity, a 23% improvement in profitability, and up to a 43% reduction in employee turnover.
Blink. And turn your company into a place people love to work.
