UK workplace engagement is 10 percentage points below the global average after dropping by seven points since 2012, a report has revealed.
Just 10 per cent of UK employees feel engaged at work, compared to 20 per cent globally, Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace found.
This puts the UK behind the European average of 12 per cent engagement.
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Global workplace engagement has declined to the lowest level since 2020, with only 20 per cent of employees worldwide considered engaged – the same level recorded in 2020.
While managers are typically more engaged than other employees, global engagement levels dropped from 31 per cent in 2022 to 22 per cent in 2025, a decline of nine percentage points.
Arne Sjöström, regional director in people science at employee experience platform Culture Amp, said ongoing uncertainty, constrained budgets and continual change have placed sustained pressure on workplace engagement.
“Managers, especially middle managers, are being squeezed from both directions. They are expected to deliver their own work, lead teams through change and translate strategy from above, often without enough support,” he explained.
When manager engagement falls it becomes much harder for organisations to motivate teams and retain talent, he said: “If managers are depleted, the ripple effects are felt well beyond the manager population itself.”
Overstretched leaders
Carole Gaskell, founder and CEO of leadership consultancy Full Potential Group, said low engagement was not the main problem – it signalled deeper leadership issues.
“Across industries, leaders today are being asked to operate in conditions of unprecedented complexity – balancing constant change, competing priorities, rising expectations, the rapid acceleration (and threat) of AI and a workforce with ever-evolving needs,” she added.
Gaskell said this was creating a gap between what leaders were expected to do and what they could sustainably deliver over time. “When that gap widens, decision quality declines, execution becomes fragmented and culture turns reactive rather than intentional,” she explained.
HR’s role in improving engagement
While HR teams cannot solve low engagement on their own, they have a “critical role” to play, Sjöström said.
“The biggest opportunity is to reduce friction around managers’ workload and equip them with better processes, tools and clearer support,” he explained.
This might involve using artificial intelligence more thoughtfully to support managers, while also helping leaders identify where managers are overloaded and under supported.
Gaskell advised HR teams and organisations to look at how they can build capacity in their teams and move from a culture of individual performance to one of design.
“This means simplifying and prioritising demands, redesigning roles and expectations and creating space for thinking and decision making. Until this is addressed, engagement will continue to fluctuate and likely decline,” she warned.
“Instead of asking ‘how can we improve engagement?’ they should ask ‘do our people have the capacity to lead in the world we’ve created?’ Until that question is answered honestly, engagement will remain the symptom, not the solution.”
For more information on this topic, read the CIPD’s factsheet on employee engagement and motivation