Engagement in Indian workplaces fell to 23 per cent in 2025, according to Gallup. Two years earlier it was 32 per cent. It is the lowest reading in Gallup's India series since 2018, and the fall has been steepest among managers.

What do the numbers show?

A fall in each of the past three years, after a decade of rises. Gallup's India series puts engagement at 33 per cent in 2022, 32 per cent in 2023, 30 per cent in 2024 and 23 per cent in 2025. Until 2023, the series, which begins in 2012, had never recorded a year-on-year fall. The seven-point drop in 2025 is the largest in its history.

Gallup reports India's 2025 figures as three-year rolling averages, which smooth out one-off swings.

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Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace 2026. Share of people at work who are engaged. 2025 figures are three-year rolling averages.

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How does India compare with the world?

It is still ahead. Gallup's global engagement figure for 2025 is 20 per cent, three points below India's.

Where is the fall concentrated?

Among managers. Engagement among Indian managers fell from 39 per cent in 2024 to 30 per cent in 2025. Among individual contributors it fell from 24 to 19 per cent. Globally, manager engagement fell from 27 to 22 per cent.

Where have the engaged gone?

Into the middle. The share of Indians Gallup classes as not engaged, giving their work time but not energy, rose from 46 per cent in 2022 to 59 per cent in 2025. The actively disengaged share fell slightly over the same period, from 21 to 18 per cent.

What does it cost?

Gallup estimates that disengagement costs India about $351 billion a year in lost productivity, roughly Rs 32.7 trillion or 9 per cent of GDP. It does not publish the method behind the figure.

What should a professional read into this?

That the change is in the middle of the workforce, not at its edges. Fewer people are invested in their work, and the managers responsible for their teams are falling furthest. This week's Long View, 'Present, paid and not really there', looks at why.

Sources

  1. Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: India country-level data, 7 April 2026
  2. Gallup, 'Rebuilding Indian Workplaces for the Future'