Australian workplaces are suffering from a lack of employee engagement, with new research from Gallup revealing that only 23% of workers are truly engaged at work.
The widespread disengagement was estimated to cost the Australian economy around AU$223 billion in lost productivity annually, News.com reported.
The employee disengagement crisis ties into a broader national concern — Australia’s ongoing productivity downturn. Over the past eight years, productivity has trended downward, with the decline worsening post the Covid-19 pandemic.
The latest figures show productivity fell by an annualized 1.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024, measured by output per hour worked.
Workers look for exit
Perhaps even more worrying for employers is the fact that 42% of Australian workers are actively looking for a new job.
In addition, 72% of Australians believe now is a good time to find a new job — the highest rate globally and just under the record 73% reported last year.
This dual dynamic — a confident job market and widespread dissatisfaction — signals a serious retention challenge for Australian businesses.
Perks aren’t enough
Claire DeCarteret, Gallup’s managing director, pointed out that while many companies tout perks such as ping pong tables and yoga mats, they were missing the mark on what employees really need — recognition and meaningful engagement.
“We don’t know if it’s that they don’t like their job, but they’re not emotionally connected to the work that they’re doing every day, and mainly it’s because they’re going through the motions,” DeCarteret said. “They may not be supported by a great manager, and a lot of the time, it’s that their needs are not being met in the workplace.”
According to DeCarteret, while unengaged workers were a financial drain, the cost of losing employees was even greater. She added that employees were hired because their skills and experience aligned with the organisation’s needs at the time, so it was more effective to re-engage them than to start over with new recruits.
Employers needed to rethink how they support their staff, DeCarteret urged, and added that aligning workplace practices with the needs of staff can lead to noticeable improvements in overall business performance.
