Download the State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report
State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report
This annual report represents the collective voice of the global employee. In this edition, the pandemic and its aftershock continued to disrupt the workplace. Check out the most recent employee data and workplace trends in the State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report.
Explore Key Findings
The pulse of the global workplace is low, but it's still beating. Our findings depict a difficult 2021, but leave much room for leaders to ask, "How am I creating a thriving workplace for my employees today?"
- 1Global engagement and wellbeing trends are stable, but low.
- 2Employee stress is at a new all-time high.
- 3South Asian and European workers' hope declined.
- 4Here's the one place the job market recovered.
- 5Despite challenges, this is the best region to be a worker.
- 6The global economy loses trillions to low engagement.
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Global engagement and wellbeing remain stable, but not great.
Before the pandemic, engagement and wellbeing were rising globally for nearly a decade -- but now, they're stagnant.
"Living for the weekend," "watching the clock tick," "work is just a paycheck." These are the mantras of most global workers. With only 21% of employees engaged at work and 33% of employees thriving in their overall wellbeing, most would say that they don't find their work meaningful, don't think their lives are going well or don't feel hopeful about their future.
Learn more about your region's data.
Stress among the world's workers reached an all-time high -- again.
Whether employees are stressed because of work, or their stress is carrying over into work, one thing is clear: The world's employees are feeling even more stressed than they did in 2020 (the previous all-time high).
Forty-four percent of employees experienced a lot of daily stress in the previous day. While almost half of the world's workers felt the burden of stress, working women in the U.S. and Canada region were among the most stressed employees globally.
How did the employees in your region fare?
Wellbeing in Europe and South Asia was hit hard in 2021 by COVID-19 waves.
Both Europe and South Asia (which includes India) dropped 5 percentage points in wellbeing in 2021, with South Asia having the lowest wellbeing in the world at 11%.
Workers in these regions not only felt like their current life was worse than it had previously been, their hope in the future also dropped.
Dig further into these regional findings.
% Thriving (Percentage Point Change)
The job market made a recovery in the U.S. and Canada region, but not elsewhere.
Only 45% of workers globally said now is a good time to find a job in their country (up slightly from last year, but less than the record 55% in 2019). The U.S. and Canada were the regional outlier for this item, leading the world at 71%, up 44 percentage points from the previous year.
The next closest regions are Australia and New Zealand at 59% and South Asia at 50%. The regions with the least promising job opportunities are the Commonwealth of Independent States (35%), MENA (28%), and East Asia (27%).
Discover more about these regions.
The best region in the world to be an employee.
Even though employees in the U.S. and Canada region are some of the most worried and stressed in the world, they're also the most engaged.
The U.S. and Canada region is also No. 2 for wellbeing, and for the largest increase in wellbeing in 2021. Half of them say they are "living comfortably" on their household income (compared with 22% globally), and the job market in 2021 was exceptionally good compared with the rest of the world.
How did the employees in your region fare?
Employee wellbeing is the new workplace imperative.
Wellbeing and engagement interact with each other in powerful ways. When employees are engaged and thriving, they experience significantly less stress, anger and health problems. Unfortunately, most employees remain disengaged at work. In fact, low engagement alone costs the global economy $7.8 trillion. The relationship between wellbeing and engagement is vital because how people experience work influences their lives outside work, and overall wellbeing influences life at work.
Organizations need to think about the whole person, not just the worker. Leaders should:
add wellbeing measurements to their executive dashboards
prioritize employee wellbeing as part of their employer brand promise
Check out more advice for leaders.
Gallup in the Media
AxiosAmerica's workers are up for grabs Stress and burnout are rising in the U.S., but jobs are plentiful, and Americans are willing to move to new places for work.
Learn More About the Report Findings
Attend this learning session:
- 1 see the latest data from Gallup's State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report
- 2 get exclusive insights and analysis on our most important findings
- 3 cover topics like stress, wellbeing, employee engagement and much more
What These Global Findings Mean for Leaders and Employees
The World's Workplace Is Broken - Here's How to Fix It
Globally, 60% of people are emotionally detached at work and 19% are miserable. Managers, more than anyone else, can do something about it.
Why Leaders Must Address the Employee Wellbeing Deficit
Employees were more stressed than ever in 2021. See the data and how leaders can better address wellbeing in the workplace.
The World's $7.8 Trillion Workplace Problem
The pandemic has taken a toll on the world's workers. Employee engagement had been rising for the past decade, but the pandemic has stalled that steadily increasing trend.
View Past State of the Global Workplace Reports
Download Gallup's past reports to understand how the workplace has evolved:
Download the State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report
Explore findings by region and the advice that comes with it.