HAI. — The state of work · 2026
The data behind what everyone already feels.
This is the landscape HAI was built for. Industry research from the world's leading workforce studies — on engagement, culture health, leadership effectiveness, and the real cost of getting it wrong.
Engagement & disengagement
Gallup State of the Global Workplace 202620%
of employees globally are engaged at work — the lowest level since 2020
Gallup, 2026
64%
are not engaged — psychologically detached from their work and workplace
Gallup, 2026
16%
are actively disengaged — potentially working against the organization
Gallup, 2026
$10T
in lost productivity globally every year due to low engagement
Gallup, 2026
Trend
Global engagement decline 2022 – 2025
Three consecutive points lost in three years — first time Gallup has recorded two straight years of decline
Breakdown
Employee engagement by status — 2025
The disengaged majority outnumbers engaged employees 4 to 1
"Each percentage point of engagement represents approximately 21 million employees globally. The three-point drop since 2022 represents tens of millions of people who have psychologically checked out."
Gallup State of the Global Workplace, 2026Leadership & culture health
McKinsey 2026 · Gallup 202675%
of organizations are struggling to build high-performance cultures
McKinsey State of Organizations, 2026
70%
of the variance in team-level engagement is driven by the direct manager
Gallup, 2026
22%
manager engagement in 2025 — down from 31% in 2022. A 9-point collapse in 3 years.
Gallup, 2026
Barriers
Top barriers to high-performance culture
Senior executives surveyed globally — McKinsey 2026
Manager crisis
Manager engagement collapse 2022 – 2025
Managers used to enjoy an engagement premium over those they led. That premium has vanished.
79%
Manager engagement in best-practice organizations — nearly four times the global average of 22%
86%
of executives say their organization isn't properly prepared to embed AI into daily operations — the human layer remains the bottleneck
"Even the most sophisticated neural network cannot overcome an indifferent team leader."
Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup — State of the Global Workplace 2026The cost of getting it wrong
Gallup · McKinsey · Work Institute 2025–202634%
of an employee's annual salary is lost in productivity when they are disengaged
Gallup, 2026
63%
of all employee exits in 2024 were preventable — driven by weak management and stagnation
Work Institute Retention Report, 2025
56%
more likely to seek a new job if disengaged — and 87% less likely to leave if engaged
Gallup, 2026
9%
of global GDP — the economic toll of disengagement every single year
Gallup, 2026
Turnover drivers
Why people actually leave
Culture and leadership outrank compensation as reasons employees exit
The opportunity
What changes when engagement improves
Organizations that invest in culture see measurable performance gains
"Failing to manage preventable turnover is a fiduciary breach — it directly damages profitability and continuity."
Work Institute Retention Report, 2025WHERE HAI COMES IN
The data shows the problem.
HAI finds its source.
Surveys measure the symptom. AI compiles the data. HAI identifies the cause specifically, humanly, in the room. If your organization is part of these statistics, we can show you exactly where the dynamic lives and what it would take to move it.