Managers play a crucial role in their organizations — strong middle leadership is linked to positive outcomes, from improved financial performance to talent development. But the pressure to provide stability is taking a toll, according to recent research from Gallup.
Only 31 percent of managers report being engaged at work, as of May. And only 17 percent are extremely satisfied with their jobs, a 6 percentage-point decrease from January 2019.
Fifty-five percent of managers report actively seeking a new job.
"Our latest insights show that managers today are more likely than non-managers to be disengaged at work, burned out, looking for a new job, and feeling like their organization doesn’t care about their wellbeing," Gallup wrote in a Sept. 1 LinkedIn post. "While the workplace as a whole has been struggling in these areas since 2021, the decline has been most extreme for managers. Since managers account for 70% of the variance in their own team's engagement, the focus on managers has never been more critical."