Employees in the UK are some of the most disengaged, dissatisfied and angry in Europe according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce report.
The research also found that workers’ confidence in the UK job market has plummeted, bucking an upward trend on the continent.
Gallup’s 2023 research revealed that the UK remains one of the least engaged workforces in Europe, ranking 33 out of 38 among countries.
While marginally better than the same data last year, the low levels of employee engagement are not unique to the UK, with only 13% of employees across Europe saying they feel engaged at work, and the lowest rates of engagement reported in France (7%) and Italy (5%).
Many of Europe’s most prosperous nations appear at the bottom of the list. Germany was 23rd with an average employee engagement level of 16%. Sweden and Denmark were higher at 11th with 21%, and 14th with 20% respectively.
The survey suggests a bleak picture for the current mood of the UK workforce, with 38% experiencing daily stress. One-fifth (19%) of UK professionals have reported feeling angry at work, a 4-point increase year-on-year, putting the UK well above the European average (14%).
Anna Sawyer, a partner at Gallup, said: “The UK continues to perform poorly on employee engagement. To tackle widespread disengagement, businesses need to be championing employees and giving them the right tools and resources to be productive and purposeful. Additionally, it’s important for employees spend time together.”
“The value of real human interactions can’t be overlooked – it’s crucial for career development, productivity and wellbeing, amongst other outcomes. Companies that fail to make employee engagement a priority risk losing talent and ultimately jeopardise their overall success.”
Gallup’s annual State of the Global Workforce Report also revealed that confidence in the UK’s current job market has declined by four points since last year’s report, with just 36% of people believing that now is a good time to find a job.
Falling UK confidence bucked the trend of growing job-market confidence in the rest of Europe, where over half of the population (56%, up 12 points year-on-year) believe now is a good time to look for a job.
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There has been speculation about an impending recession and against this backdrop, Gallup said this could perhaps explain why job confidence in the UK is considerably lower than much of the rest of Europe. People may be opting to stay in their current role as this is the ‘safer’ option, rather than risk being last in-first out if there is a recession.
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