Gallup

Burnout isn’t always a matter of how much you’re working. Sometimes it’s what you’re working on. Gallup research finds that about three in 10 U.S. employees say they very often or always feel burned out at work. When people spend too much time working outside their natural talents, their tasks require more effort and their performance erodes. But when their work aligns with their strengths, employees work more efficiently, handle pressure better and report more positive daily work experiences. When day-to-day responsibilities don’t align with natural talents, it may signal a talent misalignment. Before pursuing a larger career change, job crafting – reshaping projects and responsibilities to better reflect strengths – can offer a more immediate reset. When roles align with how people naturally work best, performance and engagement tend to follow. Discover how strengths shape performance at work: https://lnkd.in/dMK-2xMF

Employee engagement among Gen Z and younger millennials is at a critical low. Only 41% say that someone at work seems to care about them as a person, down from 54% in 2020. In Gallup’s latest Leading With Strengths interview, PACSUN CEO Brieane Olson talks about what organizations consistently get wrong about engaging the next generation — and what it takes to bring young workers in, develop them and work alongside them to move the business forward. Olson’s approach to leadership has resulted in 12 consecutive quarters of sustained growth, a leadership team with an average tenure of 13 years and retention at an all-time high. Listen to the full conversation with Brieane out now. https://lnkd.in/gdNgKZkq  

Most people assume burnout is solely a workload problem. Gallup data suggests otherwise. When people believe in what their employer does and feel a genuine connection between their daily work and a larger purpose, they are more likely to stay, more likely to perform and less likely to burn out. Leaders who navigate this environment most effectively help people see how their work connects to something bigger than any single task or project. They ask themselves and their teams hard questions about whether the mission is visible in the day-to-day and whether their own actions reflect it. Russell Cox, President and CEO of Norton Healthcare, leads one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States with this philosophy at the center of his leadership approach. In a recent conversation with Gallup CEO Jon Clifton, Cox explains how connecting people to purpose shapes how he builds trust, reduces burnout and strengthens resilience across his organization. Listen to their full conversation in Leading With Strengths: https://lnkd.in/guaE7THZ

Federal workers were significantly more likely than state and local government employees to report that their employer was letting people go during the 2025 workforce reform. Reducing the size of the federal workforce also brought broader workplace challenges. Federal workers experienced larger declines in engagement, job satisfaction and higher levels of burnout compared with their state and local peers. However, Gallup analysis found that federal workers who felt more connected and supported were less likely to experience steep declines in engagement. Periods of restructuring are operational events, but they are also human events. Leaders and managers can help moderate the effects of organizational change. Learn more about how workplace culture and leadership shape employee experiences during periods of change: https://lnkd.in/gA_AfbcA

Young Americans are significantly less optimistic about the job market than older Americans — and no other country shows a generational divide this wide. In 2025, 43% of U.S. adults aged 15 to 34 said it was a good time to find a job where they live, compared with 64% of adults aged 55 and older. Globally, younger adults still tend to be more positive about job opportunities than older generations. The shift in the U.S. has been sharp. Since 2023, optimism among young Americans has fallen by 27 percentage points, with the steepest declines among highly educated young adults and those not yet working full time. While confidence in local job markets has softened across many advanced economies, the U.S. now stands apart for the scale of its generational divide. Explore the latest findings from Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace research: https://lnkd.in/gtgqN8pR

People don’t separate work from life as neatly as organizations sometimes assume. Gallup’s latest global analysis has found that employees who enjoy the work they do every day rate their lives more than a full point higher on the Life Evaluation Index than those who do not enjoy their work. Data from Gallup, in collaboration with the Wellbeing for Planet Earth Foundation and PERSOL APAC show that across 149 countries, enjoyment of daily work shows the strongest relationship to overall wellbeing among the workplace dimensions studied — but context matters, with job choice and purpose playing a larger role for specific groups. Explore how the relationship between work and wellbeing shifts across countries, age groups and employment types: https://lnkd.in/gr5cAn3v

Gallup CEO Jon Clifton took the stage as part of the closing plenary session at the Milken Institute Global Conference 2026 this week, sharing insights from Gallup research in partnership with the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream. Watch below, then explore Americans' perspectives on the meaning of the American Dream, with new data publishing soon. https://lnkd.in/gTzCky9H

Employees who feel connected to their company’s culture are 4.3x as likely to be engaged at work, which points to a broader challenge many organizations face: Culture is often clearly defined but not consistently experienced. In practice, culture takes shape in everyday moments: how expectations are set, how recognition shows up and whether employees can see a clear connection between their work and a larger purpose. Gallup’s research shows that when employees feel that connection, they are also 62% less likely to feel burned out and 47% less likely to be looking for another job. Most organizations already have teams where this works well. Leaders should identify what makes those teams successful and apply it consistently across the organization. This shift takes time. It requires a clear, structured approach to understand and improve culture. Explore how to build a culture that drives results: https://lnkd.in/d-yu4z6q