U.S. Employee Engagement Falls to 29%, Matching Its 2011 Level

U.S. employee engagement fell to 29% in August, matching its 2011 level as measures of workplace expectations and recent recognition also weakened.

Engagement describes employees’ involvement in and enthusiasm for their work and workplace. The measure stood at 31% in May and remained at 31% during the first half of 2026. It also averaged 31% in 2025, after reaching 36% in 2020.

The decline from 31% to 29% was two percentage points. Applying an estimate of 1.6 million employees for each percentage point makes the drop equivalent to about 3.2 million employees. That is a population estimate, not a count of identifiable workers whose engagement status changed.

The share classified as actively disengaged rose to 18% in August from 17% in May. Over the same period, the share who strongly agreed they knew what was expected of them at work fell to 46% from 49%. Those who strongly agreed they had received recognition or praise for good work in the previous seven days declined to 27% from 29%.

A July comparison showed engagement was six percentage points higher at organizations that had adopted artificial intelligence (AI) than at those that had not. Within organizations that adopted AI, employees who used it at least weekly were eight points more engaged than less frequent users. Industry differences may account for part of the organization-level gap, and neither comparison establishes that AI caused the August decline.

The August reading is one quarterly result; on its own, it does not establish a continuing national decline in engagement.