The Gallup survey has revealed a sharp decline in employee engagement in Indian workplaces, with the South Asia region registering the sharpest drop in employee engagement over the past year. The survey found that the number of actively disengaged employees in India reduced sharply from 31% to 18.47%, while the number of engaged employees increased from 9.03% to 22.51%. However, the number of engaged employees was highest in 2020-22 at 33.17%. The report also showed a dip in engagement among managers, with the number of engaged managers decreasing from 39% to 30%.
The survey defines workplace engagement as the psychological attachment workers have to their work, their team and their employer, and measures it based on a set of 12 statements posed to the respondents. The report found that the decline in workplace engagement has less to do with active disengagement, and more to do with the middle lot — those who are not engaged, but not actively disengaged either, known as the quiet quitters.
The report pointed out that managers once enjoyed an “engagement premium” at work, but are increasingly only as engaged as those they lead. The largest year-over-year drop in manager engagement globally occurred between 2024 and 2025, with South Asia (primarily India) experiencing an eight-point decline in manager engagement.
