Employee Engagement Statistics (2026): Trends, Burnout Rates & Organizational Impact

Q: Why are younger volunteers and employees harder to retain?

Between 2003 and 2021, volunteers became more interested in episodic, short-term assignments. Younger volunteers often juggle multiple commitments and prefer assignments that fit varied schedules rather than fixed weekly time slots. Flexibility and visible impact are key to retaining younger cohorts.

Global employee engagement drops to 20%, with 55% of US workers burned out. Discover 2026 engagement data, costs, and strategies for nonprofits.

Employee engagement—the emotional and psychological connection employees feel toward their work, team, and organization—has become one of the most critical metrics for organizational health. Yet in 2025, only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work, costing the world economy $10 trillion in lost productivity . In the nonprofit sector, where mission-driven work should theoretically drive higher engagement, the reality is more nuanced. While some nonprofits achieve exceptional engagement rates, many struggle with retention, burnout, and the challenge of keeping both staff and volunteers motivated. This report synthesizes the latest 2026 engagement data to help nonprofit and faith-based leaders understand the landscape they're navigating—and what actually works. See our full volunteer retention statistics hub for complementary data on volunteer-specific engagement trends.

Methodology note: This report compiles data exclusively from peer-reviewed research, government surveys (U.S. Census Bureau, AmeriCorps, Bureau of Labor Statistics), and established benchmark firms (Gallup, Deloitte, McKinsey). Every statistic is sourced and hyperlinked. We distinguish between aggregator figures and primary sources, and omit any unverified or estimated numbers. This is an educational resource, not legal advice.

Key takeaways

20% of employees globally are engaged

55% of US workers experiencing burnout

$4.2T in US productivity lost to disengagement

65% volunteer retention benchmark

Global engagement crisis: The 20% reality

The world's employee engagement has dropped to 20% from its peak in 2022 of 23% , marking a troubling reversal. But the US picture is slightly different. Just 31% of U.S. employees are actively engaged at work, a number that's been falling since 2020 . This gap reflects regional variation, but both figures underscore the scale of the challenge.

20%

64%

16%

Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2026

Despite the recent downturn, employee engagement is eight percentage points higher than it was in Gallup's first measurement in 2009 and five points higher than it was a decade ago . The trend is not uniformly bleak, but it is undeniably downward in the near term.

The burnout epidemic: 55% of US workers affected

Burnout has evolved from a cultural complaint into a quantified business crisis. Recent data shows that 55% of the U.S. workforce is currently experiencing burnout, a figure from Eagle Hill Consulting's Workforce Burnout Survey, conducted by Ipsos in November 2025 with more than 1,400 full-time employees . This represents a six-year high.

According to Aflac's 2025 WorkForces report, 72% of US workers report experiencing moderate-to-high levels of stress, the highest number in the last seven years . Burnout is not evenly distributed across age groups.

Gen Z employees 66%

Gen Z peaks at age 25 17 yrs earlier

Healthcare workers 76%

K-12 educators 78%

Burnout rates by sector and age group. Maker Stations 2026 and eMonitor 2026

70% of Gen Z and Millennial employees reported experiencing burnout symptoms within the past year, with Gen Z burnout rates exceeding 50% . Notably, Gen Z hits peak burnout at age 25, about 17 years earlier than the average American, who peaks at 42 .

The hidden cost of burnout: Presenteeism, not absenteeism

The true financial impact of burnout extends far beyond what companies typically measure. Burnout costs $3,999 to $20,683 per employee per year, and 89% of that cost comes from presenteeism —employees showing up but depleted. 89% of burnout's cost comes from presenteeism, employees present but depleted, and only 11% from absenteeism. Most firms track sick days, which captures the smaller share .

At the organizational level, low engagement costs U.S. companies approximately $2 trillion in lost productivity every year . For nonprofits operating on tight margins, this dynamic is especially damaging: mission-driven staff are more likely to push through burnout without complaint, masking the erosion until turnover spikes.

Global employee engagement trend. Gallup 2026

Manager influence: The 70% lever

One of the most actionable findings is the outsized role of leadership. Managers are the single biggest lever for change: they account for 70% of the variance in team engagement levels . This means that improving engagement is not primarily a compensation issue—it's a management practice issue.

70% of employed people say their sense of purpose comes from work , yet only 69% of employees know how their company is doing against its objectives . For nonprofit staff, the mission is often the primary draw, but unclear organizational progress undermines engagement. Strong communication from leadership about direction, wins, and challenges can directly move this needle.

Communication frequency also matters: Employees with 6 hours of leader communication are 29% more inspired and 30% more engaged than those with 1 hour per week with a leader .

Learning and development: An overlooked retention lever

82% of employees say meaningful learning directly impacts their motivation – making L&D a primary lever for organisational engagement . This is particularly relevant for nonprofits and faith-based organizations, where staff often wear multiple hats and value growth opportunities as much as compensation.

Employees overwhelmingly cite development opportunities as the most important factor in whether they feel engaged at work. 82% of employees say meaningful learning directly impacts their motivation . Yet many nonprofits underfund training and professional development, viewing it as a discretionary expense rather than a retention investment. The data suggests the inverse mindset is warranted.

Volunteer engagement and retention: The 65% benchmark

While employee engagement has declined, volunteer engagement presents a parallel but distinct challenge. The average volunteer retention rate is about 65%, which means roughly one in three volunteers do not return from year to year . However, studies report volunteer retention rates ranging from as low as 45% to as high as 75%, with 65% commonly cited. A good retention rate meets or exceeds the 65% average, rates above 70% are strong, while rates below 60% signal that your retention strategy needs attention .

With nonprofits losing roughly one in three volunteers each year, keeping existing volunteers engaged is more efficient than constant recruitment—and a key driver of program efficiency and community impact . This mirrors the employee engagement lesson: retention pays dividends.

77% of nonprofits report that having qualified volunteers on staff might improve their organization's practices , yet the single biggest stated reason volunteers stop showing up is "no one followed up" . The first three shifts predict long-term retention. Most volunteer programs lose people in the gap between sign-up and a successful first shift, and again between the first shift and the third. If your onboarding does not get someone to a productive third experience, you have a leak, not a recruitment problem .

28.3%

75.7M

Groundswell / US Census Bureau 2024

During the period September 2022 to September 2023, an estimated 4.99 billion hours of formal volunteering were recorded, generating $167.2 billion in economic value . For nonprofits, this underscores the stakes: volunteer retention is not a soft HR issue—it's directly tied to mission delivery and cost efficiency. The value of a volunteer hour was $36.14 in 2025. If your organization logged 1,000 volunteer hours last year, that represents approximately $36,140 in contributed labor .

What this means for your volunteer program

The engagement crisis revealed in this data—whether among employees or volunteers—points to a clear truth: organizations that invest in people, communication, clarity of purpose, and intentional retention practices outperform those that don't. For nonprofits and faith-based organizations, this is both a challenge and an opportunity.

Your volunteers and staff are already mission-motivated, which is a gift. But motivation alone doesn't prevent burnout or disengagement. The organizations achieving 70%+ volunteer retention are doing four things consistently:

Onboarding with intention. Clear training, role clarity, and a successful first three experiences predict long-term retention.
Screening carefully. Background checks and identity verification aren't just about safety—they signal that you take the volunteer relationship seriously and protect everyone in your community.
Following up. The data is stark: most volunteer attrition isn't driven by your program's failures but by simple neglect. A 48-hour follow-up email after a first shift costs nothing and dramatically moves retention metrics.
Making impact visible. Volunteers who feel that their contribution is visible to leadership are more likely to stay and to give more hours per year .

For staff engagement, the lever is manager quality and frequency of communication about organizational progress. If your nonprofit leadership isn't spending time on those two dimensions, engagement will erode regardless of mission alignment or compensation level.

Many nonprofits still rely on paper volunteer forms, manual reference checking, or informal character vetting. This approach creates friction, inconsistency, and legal liability. Modern identity verification and FCRA-compliant background screening with digital reference collection allows you to spend less time on compliance and more time on engagement—and to integrate all your volunteer data into a single system. VolunteerBadge's $5 background checks with no monthly fees let you screen and verify every volunteer with the same rigor you'd apply to staff, freeing your time to focus on retention.

See our guide on evaluating volunteer management vendors for a practical checklist.

Download the data

Every statistic in this report—source, year, and value—is available as a spreadsheet for your board decks, grant proposals, and impact reports.

⬇ Download the data (.xlsx)

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is a term that expresses the emotional commitment of employees towards their work, teams, and the organization's targets . It's distinct from job satisfaction; engagement measures how connected and motivated someone feels, not just whether they like their job.

Q: Why do nonprofits often achieve higher engagement than for-profit companies?
Nonprofits benefit from a self-selecting workforce motivated by mission. However, U.S. employee engagement has fallen from 35% to 31%, which is the average for all U.S. employees . Nonprofits are not immune to broader burnout and disengagement trends; the gap narrows once mission-fatigue sets in.

Q: How is volunteer retention measured?
Use the following equation: (volunteers who returned ÷ total volunteers at start of period) × 100. For example, if your organization had 200 total volunteers last year and 120 served again this year, your year-over-year volunteer retention rate would be (120/200) × 100 = 60% .

Q: Why are younger volunteers and employees harder to retain?
Between 2003 and 2021, volunteers became "more interested in episodic, short-term assignments". Younger volunteers often juggle multiple commitments and prefer assignments that fit varied schedules rather than fixed weekly time slots . Flexibility and visible impact are key to retaining younger cohorts.

Q: What is presenteeism, and why does it matter?
Presenteeism is the practice of coming to work despite illness or, in this context, severe burnout. 89% of burnout's cost comes from presenteeism, employees present but depleted, and only 11% from absenteeism . Nonprofits often overlook this because burned-out staff don't visibly disappear—they just produce less, more slowly.

Q: What role do managers play in engagement?
Managers are the single biggest lever for change: they account for 70% of the variance in team engagement levels . This means investment in manager training and communication practices yields outsized returns in employee engagement.

Sources & references

First published: August 10, 2026 · Last updated: August 10, 2026

This is a living report. We refresh the figures annually as new Gallup, Census, AmeriCorps, and benchmark data is released. Educational information, not legal advice. The content on this page does not constitute legal counsel.