The negative emotions of an employee and an overall lack of well-being could impact the engagement levels of workers and ultimately cause a dent in the world economy, according to a report by Gallup.
The report, titled "State of the Global Workspace," estimates a cost of $8.9 trillion for the impact of low employee engagement in the global economy. That figure translates to approximately 9% of the global GDP.
Gallup's report stemmed from the results of a survey of 128,278 employees located in more than 140 countries in 2023. As reported by CNN, the survey found that 20% of workers experience negative emotions like loneliness, sadness, or anger on a daily basis. On average, about 40% said that they feel stressed.
The report also found that those who are very likely to suffer from loneliness were younger workers, comprising 22%. Those who work remotely on a full-time basis make up 25% of the "lonely" workers, and those considered as disengaged from the job comprise 31%.
Researchers noted that being disengaged at work can affect the overall well-being of employees in the same vein (or perhaps even more) than being jobless.
"Employees who dislike their jobs tend to have high levels of daily stress and worry, as well as elevated levels of all other negative emotions," the study said. "On many well-being items (stress, anger, worry, loneliness), being actively disengaged at work is equivalent to or worse than being unemployed," the Gallup report stated.
On the other hand, it also stated that employment has been associated with higher levels of enjoyment at work when employees find their work meaningful, including their work relationships. It was also found that when this exists, negative daily emotions are low. The report also noted that "half of employees who are engaged at work are thriving in life overall."
Accordingly, it was in the "best practice" organizations where engagement levels were found to be the highest. One of the things considered as a "best practice" was having leaders who emphasize well-being not only at the work place, but also in life. It also underscored that the manager plays a crucial role in this aspect.
