64% of employees worldwide were quiet quitting in 2025, based on Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report. Add the 16% who are actively disengaged, and only one in five workers gives full effort. This post breaks down the verified quiet quitting statistics for 2026: global and US rates, generational splits, manager data, and the $10 trillion productivity bill.
Quiet Quitting Statistics 2026: TL;DR
- 64% of the global workforce fell into Gallup’s “not engaged” category in 2025, the group that matches the quiet quitting definition.
- Global engagement dropped to 20%, its lowest level since 2020 and the first back-to-back decline in Gallup’s trend.
- Low engagement cost the world economy about $10 trillion in 2025, near 9% of global GDP.
- In the US, 52% of workers were not engaged in 2025 and 17% were actively disengaged, per Gallup’s January 2026 update.
- Manager engagement fell to 22% in 2025, a five-point drop in one year and nine points below its 2022 level.
The short version: quiet quitting is not fading, it is spreading upward. The 2026 data shows the sharpest disengagement now sits with managers and workers under 35, while the price tag keeps climbing.
How Many Workers Are Quiet Quitting in 2026?
Gallup splits every workforce into three groups. Quiet quitters sit in the middle band, not engaged, showing up and collecting pay without discretionary effort.
In 2025 that middle band held 64% of workers worldwide. Engaged employees made up 20%, and actively disengaged workers, who work against their employers, made up 16%.
| Engagement group | Global share, 2025 | Behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| Engaged | 20% | Committed, gives full effort |
| Not engaged (quiet quitters) | 64% | Does the minimum, mentally detached |
| Actively disengaged | 16% | Unhappy, undermines coworkers |
Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026
Each engagement point equals about 21 million workers, so the slide from the 23% peak in 2022 to 20% in 2025 moved roughly 63 million people into the checked-out column. No region gained engagement in 2025, and South Asia lost five points, the steepest regional drop.
Engagement still sits eight points above the 12% Gallup measured in 2009. The problem is direction, not depth, and it lines up with wider shifts tracked in the future of work data for 2026.
What Do Quiet Quitting Statistics Say About Cost?
Gallup priced the full drag of low engagement at roughly $10 trillion for 2025, about 9% of global GDP. The single-year engagement drop in 2024 alone shaved $438 billion off global output.
| Measure | Figure |
|---|---|
| Total annual cost of low engagement | ~$10 trillion |
| Share of global GDP | ~9% |
| Productivity lost to the 2024 decline alone | $438 billion |
| Workers per engagement point | ~21 million |
Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026
The cost lands on top of a stuck labour market. About half of employees tell Gallup they are watching or actively hunting for a new job, yet quit rates sit near decade lows, a pattern visible in the US job market numbers as well.
Companies get a benchmark for the upside too. At Gallup’s best-practice organizations, 79% of managers are engaged, nearly four times the global average.
US Quiet Quitting Statistics by Generation
US engagement held at 31% in 2025, unchanged from 2024 but five points below its 2020 peak of 36%. With 17% actively disengaged, 52% of American workers sit in the quiet quitting middle.
Each US engagement point represents about 1.6 million workers, which puts the loss since 2020 at roughly 8 million fewer engaged employees. The generational split explains most of it.
| US generation | Engaged, 2020 | Engaged, 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gen Z and younger millennials | 40% | 32% | -8 pts |
| Older millennials | 39% | 30% | -9 pts |
| Gen X | 35% | 29% | -6 pts |
| Baby boomers | 34% | 34% | 0 pts |
Source: Gallup, US Employee Engagement annual update, January 2026
Boomers are the only group that never moved. Every cohort under 45 lost between six and nine points, and younger workers report the weakest scores on role clarity, recognition, and development, the same pressure points that show up in employee burnout rates for 2026.
Are Managers Quiet Quitting Too? The 2026 Manager Data
The 2026 report identifies managers as the group driving the global decline. Manager engagement fell from 27% in 2024 to 22% in 2025, while individual contributors held near 18%.
The engagement premium for holding a management job has nearly vanished. Managers led individual contributors by 11 points in 2022; by 2025 the gap was down to three.
That matters because Gallup ties managers to 70% of the variance in team engagement. Only 44% of managers worldwide have received formal management training, and untrained managers are the ones most likely to pass their detachment down.
Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026 and 2025 reports
Some employers are responding with structural fixes rather than perks. Results from four-day workweek trials and the retention gaps in hybrid work trends in the US both show schedule flexibility moving engagement more than pay alone.
How Quiet Quitters Feel: Daily Emotions at Work in 2025
Gallup also tracks the emotional side of disengagement. 40% of employees worldwide reported feeling a lot of stress the previous day in 2025.
| Daily emotion | Global workers reporting it, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Stress | 40% |
| Sadness | 23% |
| Anger | 22% |
| Loneliness | 22% |
Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026
Disengaged workers rarely announce themselves. Much of the withdrawal takes the form of low-visibility coasting during work hours, the same behaviour documented in workplace distraction research for 2026.
FAQ
What percentage of employees are quiet quitting in 2026?
64% of workers worldwide were not engaged in 2025, Gallup’s quiet quitting category. In the US the figure was 52%, plus 17% actively disengaged, leaving 31% of Americans engaged at work.
How much does quiet quitting cost the global economy?
About $10 trillion per year in lost productivity, equal to roughly 9% of global GDP, according to Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report. The 2024 engagement drop alone cost $438 billion.
Is quiet quitting increasing or decreasing?
Increasing. Global engagement fell from 23% in 2022 to 20% in 2025, the first two-year consecutive decline Gallup has recorded, and no world region posted an engagement gain in 2025.
Which age group quiet quits the most in the US?
Workers under 35. Gen Z and younger millennial engagement fell from 40% in 2020 to 32% in 2025, and older millennials dropped from 39% to 30%. Baby boomer engagement stayed flat at 34%.
Are managers quiet quitting as well?
Yes. Manager engagement fell to 22% in 2025, down five points in one year and nine points since 2022. Managers now lead individual contributors by only three engagement points, down from eleven.
Sources
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx
https://www.gallup.com/workplace/654911/employee-engagement-sinks-year-low.aspx
https://instituteforpr.org/gallup-global-workplace-2026/
https://peopleresults.com/gallup-state-of-the-global-workplace-2026-what-it-tells-us-and-why-it-matters/
