Employee Well-Being Declines to Record Lows, According to Gallup

November 19, 2024 TruthUSA

The survey findings have significant implications for employers as they recognize the correlation between employee well-being and productivity.

The percentage of American workers reporting they are “thriving” in their lives has hit a record low, while those who are “struggling” have reached a record high, according to Gallup data.

The report, published on Nov. 19, sheds light on a concerning shift in life evaluations among the U.S. workforce, showing a consistent decline in well-being indicators over the past four years. Notably, the percentage of American workers feeling “suffering” was 4 percent (from a survey conducted in August), double the rate compared to any year during the Trump administration.

Gallup’s survey, which began tracking life evaluations by U.S. employees in 2009, indicates that the peak of workers reporting they were “thriving” was 61 percent in both 2016 and 2017. This number started to decline in 2019 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and, despite a brief uptick in January 2021, the downward trend persisted. As of August 2024, only 50 percent of U.S. employees rated their lives highly enough to be classified as thriving.

Conversely, the percentage of American workers describing themselves as “struggling” has seen a sharp increase in recent years. In the latest survey, 45 percent of workers fell into this category, matching a record high seen in May 2023. The share of U.S. employees struggling had bottomed out at 37 percent in 2016 and 2017, remaining around that level until the pandemic, when it jumped to 43 percent. It briefly dropped to 38 percent in January 2021 but has since been steadily rising.

The percentage of employees categorized as “suffering” held steady at 4 percent in the latest survey, consistent with each year of the Biden presidency except for 2022 when it reached a record 5 percent. In comparison, between 2016 and 2020, the proportion of U.S. workers reporting they were suffering stood at 2 percent—half of the current rate.

According to Gallup’s survey methodology, “thriving” individuals have positive views about their current life situation and the next five years. These individuals report fewer health issues, lower levels of negative emotions like stress and depression, and exhibit higher levels of energy, happiness, hope, and engagement.

The survey results underscore the importance for employers to acknowledge the relationship between employee well-being and productivity. Numerous studies, including Gallup’s own research, demonstrate that lower life evaluations can lead to decreased engagement, higher absenteeism, and increased turnover.

The authors of a 2019 meta-analysis of 339 independent research studies encompassing the well-being of over 1.8 million employees and the performance of over 82,000 business units found a significant positive correlation between employees’ satisfaction with their company and employee productivity and customer loyalty, along with a strong negative correlation with staff turnover, as reported.

“Ultimately, higher well-being at work is positively correlated with more business-unit level profitability,” the researchers concluded.

While the specific causes of declining well-being among U.S. workers are challenging to pinpoint, some studies suggest factors such as economic instability or pandemic-related stressors may play a role.

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