For the first time in nearly a decade, global engagement is slipping again. This time, the story isn’t about frontline employees, but about the people leading them.

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025, only 21% of employees are engaged, marking one of the steepest global declines in more than 12 years.  Interestingly, manager engagement fell the most, from 30% to 27%, while individual contributors stayed flat.

In other words, the very people responsible for inspiring, supporting, and developing others are struggling to stay engaged themselves.

Managers Are the Tipping Point

Managers don’t just influence engagement — they create it.  Gallup’s data shows that 70% of team engagement is determined by the manager.

When a manager feels motivated and supported, that energy multiplies. Teams are more productive, employees stay longer, and performance improves. But when a manager is burned out, disconnected, or uncertain, that energy fades. It spreads quietly, ultimately lowering morale, clarity, and trust across the team.

This is the engagement crisis beneath the crisis. It’s not just that employees are tired. Their managers are too.

Why Managers Are Running on Empty

Over the past few years, managers have been asked to do it all: lead through change, balance hybrid teams, protect wellbeing, and deliver results, often without clear expectations or consistent support.

That strain shows up as Gallup measures wellbeing of managers and it is down 7 points from last year – even as  the wellbeing of individual contributors held steady. They’re leading the charge, but often doing it on fumes.The result is a quiet disengagement from leadership. Managers are keeping things running, but they’re not thriving. And when they don’t thrive, their teams can’t either.

The Ripple Effect

A manager’s engagement shapes everything: clarity, trust, recognition, and team energy. When they’re stretched too thin, communication becomes transactional. When they’re exhausted, empathy fades. Soon, the team mirrors that fatigue, and the impact spreads.

Gallup estimates that lost engagement costs the global economy $9.6 trillion every year. But the real cost is in what teams lose day to day – momentum, innovation, and belief that their work matters.

Disengagement happens in the moments we miss, from the check-ins that don’t happen to the recognition that gets postponed.

Managers set the tone. And when they’re struggling, the entire team feels it.

What Needs to Change

The fix isn’t another engagement survey or one-time leadership session. It’s a new approach that recognizes that managers are not immune to burnout or disconnection, and that their engagement fuels everyone else’s.

When managers have time, tools, and trust, they lead differently. They listen more. They connect more. They model what engagement looks like.

And that ripple works both ways as engaged managers create engaged teams.

The Bottom Line

Managers shape how work feels across an organization. Strengthening engagement starts with the people who lead it. When managers have the tools and support to connect with their teams, engagement grows naturally.

Ready to help your managers thrive?

BetterYet helps teams and their managers build simple, human habits of connection that make engagement sustainable
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_{Part one of our four-part look at Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2025 and what the data mean for leaders, wellbeing, and performance.}