Employees across America are feeling increasingly detached from their jobs, writes Gallup’s Ben Wigert and Corey Tatel. The researchers found that most of their interviewees are seeking new job opportunities at the highest rate since 2015 while satisfaction with their employer has returned to a record low.

“Gallup refers to this shift as the Great Detachment,” they wrote. “For employers, this means that while turnover numbers may have slowed, employee productivity concerns and future talent loss are hidden organisational risks. In addition, when employees feel detached from their work, organisational change initiatives are likely to meet indifference or resistance,” explained the researchers.

This “Great Detachment” is fueled by several converging factors stemming from historic workplace changes in recent years. Factors such as rapid organisational change, including high turnover during the Great Resignation and ongoing disruptions like team restructuring, shifting responsibilities, and budget cuts, has left employees and managers alike overwhelmed and burned out.

Hybrid and remote work models, while offering flexibility, often exacerbate these challenges by creating communication gaps and emotional distancing within teams, explains the researchers. Additionally, evolving customer demands for enhanced digital experiences and the pandemic-driven reassessment of career priorities have heightened employee expectations for work-life balance, competitive compensation, and remote flexibility. When these expectations are unmet, employees feel undervalued and disconnected from their employers.

Compounding these issues is the breakdown of traditional performance management practices, which many leaders find ineffective in aligning teams, setting clear expectations, and recognising achievements in a disrupted, hybrid work environment.

Without strong systems to foster engagement and clarity, employees struggle to feel a sense of purpose or connection to their organisations, they explain further. Together, these challenges have created a workplace environment where many employees feel disoriented and detached, signaling the need for new leadership approaches to rebuild trust, connection, and stability in the workplace.

So what can be done?

The researchers provide different solutions for companies who are facing this detachment. A fundamental driver of employee performance and development is clarity around role expectations. Yet, this clarity has declined significantly since the pandemic, with less than half of employees in 2022 and 2023 reporting that they know what is expected of them at work.

Younger employees, new hires, hybrid workers, and those in white-collar jobs experience the greatest uncertainty. This lack of clarity leads to confusion, decreased engagement, and underperformance. To address this, leaders and managers must prioritise setting and regularly discussing clear, collaboratively agreed-upon expectations. These should align with team goals, consider workload and well-being, and adapt to the evolving workplace environment, they explain.

Another critical challenge is the disconnection between the employees’ connection to their organisation’s mission and purpose. Initially, this connection held steady during the pandemic as employees rallied to save their businesses. However, the constant change and volatility that followed led to widespread fatigue and a steep decline in this connection, reaching a record low in 2024. Younger employees, fully remote workers, and frontline staff feel this disconnect most acutely.

The research proposes that for leaders to reverse this trend they must articulate an inspiring vision, demonstrating alignment with organisational values, and helping employees see how their work contributes to a greater purpose. Encouraging employees to share stories that highlight their pride in their work can further strengthen this bond.

Rebuilding these two essential elements—clear expectations and a connection to mission—offers a powerful solution to the challenges of the Great Detachment. Research shows that improving clarity and purpose leads to measurable outcomes: increased profitability, productivity, and retention, along with better work quality.