Teachers and students form a picket line outside Dolores Huerta Elementary School in San Francisco on Feb. 10. Workers are feeling less engaged than at any other point in the last decade while their sense of struggling in the workplace is the worst it has ever been, a new Gallup poll says. File Photo by Terry Schmitt | License Photo
Workers are feeling less engaged than at any other point in the last decade while their sense of struggling in the workplace is the worst it has ever been, a new Gallup poll says.
About 49% of workers said they are struggling at the end of 2025, compared to 46% who say they are thriving, the poll published Tuesday said. It is the first time since Gallup began surveying worker wellbeing in 2009.
The survey was conducted between Oct. 30 and Nov. 13.
The gap between thriving and struggling narrowed at an accelerated pace beginning in 2024, though more workers still felt they were thriving. At the beginning of 2022, more than 50% of workers reported a sense of thriving in their lives.
Employee engagement also fell to the lowest level in a decade, reaching 31%.
Workers are also feeling more pessimistic about their options in the job market than ever on record. About 28% report that it is a good time to find a quality job. About 70% of respondents said it was a good time to find a quality job in 2022. Meanwhile, more than half of workers are looking for new jobs or monitoring opportunities.
Gallup said that the 42-point decline in job market confidence is the “largest collapse” it has recorded in the past four years.
The pessimism about the job market is shared among college-educated and young workers. This reverses a trend of workers with at least undergraduate degrees tending to be more optimistic about the job market. That trend held firm until 2025, when only 19% said it was a good time to look for a good job.
Federal workers are reporting a downturn in their sense of well-being and optimism more than any other group. The federal workforce has experienced an upheaval since President Donald Trump returned to office and directed the short-lived Department of Government Efficiency to cut jobs, spending and some agencies entirely.
In 2022, federal workers were far more likely than the average worker to report thriving. About 60% said they were thriving, compared to 48% in 2025.
This week in Washington
President Donald Trump presents the Commander in Chief’s Trophy to the Navy Midshipmen football team during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House on Friday. The award is presented annually to the winner of the football competition between the Navy, Air Force and Army. Navy has won the trophy back to back years and 13 times over the last 23 years. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo
