Gallup: U.S. worker engagement sinks to 29% as hiring stays weak

By Nathan Brooks

Gallup found that U.S. employee engagement fell to 29% in the past third quarter, the lowest level since 2011. Its survey of adults defines engagement as "the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace."

Engagement rose steadily through the 2010s and peaked in 2020 before declining. Gallup's results also point to a lack of support and clear guidelines as morale drains.

What is driving lower engagement?

Gallup's Jim Harter wrote there were "particularly large declines among hybrid and remote employees in organizations that have adopted AI." He said: "At the same time, fewer employees report clear expectations or feel that someone at work cares about them."

"The pattern suggests that AI adoption may be outpacing the communication and managerial support needed to make it effective," Harter said. Employers deploying AI may be changing work faster than they are setting expectations and supporting staff.

How does weak hiring limit leverage?

Cory Stahle, senior economist at Indeed, said the low-hire, low-fire market makes it harder for workers to switch jobs or get a raise. Without credible outside offers, employees have less leverage to press their current employers for higher pay.

Stahle said: "Obviously the low-fire means job security, but at the same time, if you have a secure job, but you feel like your wage is getting eroded and not keeping up with the way that prices are increasing, that doesn't feel good." The result is job security without a clear path to higher pay.

That balance defines the current market: fewer layoffs, but limited bargaining power. The quits rate reached 2.1% in September, above the previous 12-month average of about 2% but still below the Great Resignation level from a few years ago. A higher quits rate can indicate confidence that workers can find jobs.

The hires rate rose to 3.4% in September, up for a second straight month but still comparable with the early 2010s. Glassdoor chief economist Daniel Zhao said workers may be sitting in jobs that no longer fit because they are struggling to find another role, creating pent-up frustration.

What does this change for workers and employers?

Soft hiring affects both unemployed people and workers with jobs, according to Zhao. It reduces opportunities to move up the career ladder and weakens employees' ability to use competing offers to seek raises or promotions.

Zhao said: "If you can't credibly quit and find a better job, then there's no pressure on your current employer to give you a raise or a promotion." He added: "That means that workers are stuck in their current situations and they don't have an outlet for their frustration."

The mismatch can be prolonged. Zhao said: "Naturally, people outgrow jobs, and in a healthy job market, when you outgrew one job, you would move on to the next one." He continued: "But instead, right now we're seeing that workers are stuck in jobs that are no longer a fit for them."

The New York Fed's consumer survey put the share of people happy with promotion prospects at 42.1% in July. That was a slight uptick from March but remained low within the series dating to March 2014.

What should workers do before 2027?

Zhao's advice is to prepare while hiring remains constrained. "Even if the current job market is not a great time to find a new job, you can still set yourself up to be ready in the future," he said.

He framed 2027 as a possible turning point: "If 2027 is a better job market and there are more opportunities available, then you want to make sure that you are in a position to ride that wave." The risk for employers is a rapid reversal once conditions improve.

"If the job market does heat up, then that pent-up frustration, that desire for green pastures, is going to very quickly evolve into employee attrition, and it is going to result in people heading for the doors en masse," Zhao said. A stronger hiring market could revive a Great Resignation-style cycle.

For workers, Zhao's answer is to position themselves for a stronger market, not assume today's hiring pace will improve soon. For employers, the near-term test is whether they can close Gallup's communication and managerial-support gaps before a better market releases pent-up workers. If hiring improves in 2027, those constraints could quickly give way to a wave of departures.