In its latest findings, Gallup reports that while the U.S. and Canada are among the most engaged workers in the world, 52% of workers reported stress a lot of the day yesterday

While employee engagement has been on the rise, Gallup reports that global employees stress has also increased.

According to the firm, stress is associated with physical and mental health problems and lower productivity. The rise in employee stress is a call for organisations to address employee engagement and wellbeing in the current and future workforce.

In its latest findings, Gallup reports that while the U.S. and Canada are among the most engaged workers in the world, 52% of workers reported stress a lot of the day yesterday. Meanwhile, 52% of the workers are stressed in East Asia, a region with low employee engagement (17%). The stress level is higher among young workers and those who work in remote or hybrid locations.

They explained that more than half of employees (59%) are quiet quitting (not engaged), and 18% are loud quitting (actively disengaged).

Those who quiet quitting employees cite issues related to employee engagement or culture, pay and benefits. More than half of the global employees who are employed are actively looking for another job.

Gallup said that effective management in the more remote and hybrid, post-pandemic workforce should involve having a discussion with employees per week that focuses on recognition, collaboration, goals and priorities, and strengths.

“Looking at the bigger picture, employees who are not engaged at work or actively disengaged represent an $8.8 trillion untapped productivity opportunity for global workplaces,” wrote Jim Harter, Ph.D., the Chief Scientist, Workplace for Gallup.

He explains that while less than one-fourth of employees are engaged at work, many organisations have tripled that rate.

South Asia, the United States and Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean have the highest engagement level. While the European region has the lowest employee engagement level.

According to Gallup, the global rise in employee engagement was due to increases in South Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, exclusively remote employees are more engaged than fully on-site and hybrid employees.