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Global manager engagement plummeted 3 percentage points in 2024, with female managers dropping 7 points and young managers falling 5 points—the steepest decline since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Why it matters:
Manager disengagement threatens global economic productivity at a critical moment when organizations need strong leadership to navigate AI transformation and post-pandemic challenges.
- Manager engagement directly drives 70% of team engagement, making this decline a cascading organizational risk
- The global economy lost $438 billion in productivity in 2024 due to declining engagement
- Only 44% of the world’s managers have received any management training, leaving them unprepared for current challenges
What Gallup researchers found:
- Global employee engagement fell from 23% to 21% in 2024, matching the decline seen during COVID-19 lockdowns
- Manager engagement dropped from 30% to 27%, while individual contributor engagement remained flat at 18%
- Female managers experienced the largest decline (7 percentage points), followed by managers under 35 (5 percentage points)
How we know:
Analysis of 227,347 employed adults globally through Gallup’s World Poll, conducted April-December 2024 across 160+ countries using probability-based, nationally representative samples. The study leverages Gallup’s proprietary Q12 engagement measurement tool, validated through extensive meta-analyses demonstrating reliable correlations between engagement and performance outcomes.
What this means:
- For CHROs: Manager development has become a critical business continuity issue—manager breakdown will cascade to team performance and retention
- For Organizations: The current manager crisis creates both immediate productivity risks and long-term competitive disadvantages in an AI-driven economy
- For Executives: Traditional management approaches are failing; new models of manager support and development are urgently needed
Now what:
- Implement immediate manager training programs to reduce extreme manager disengagement—focus on basic role responsibilities and coaching techniques
- Create AI-enhanced manager support systems that help overwhelmed managers handle competing demands from executives and employees
- Establish manager wellbeing monitoring systems to identify and address burnout before it spreads to teams
