- South Asia's employee engagement drops from 33% to 26%.
- South Asia has the lowest regional percentage of thriving employees.
- Only 14% of India's employees are thriving, below the regional and global averages.
WASHINGTON, June 11, 2024 -- Gallup released its annual State of the Global Workplace report today, revealing that employee engagement in South Asia dropped significantly over the past year, slipping from 33% to 26%. The shift pushed the region down in global engagement rankings from first to third. Despite this, India, the largest country in South Asia, maintained a high engagement rate of 32%, keeping it above the global average of 23%.
Engagement and Thriving
Despite being third in engagement, South Asia saw a significant uptick in the number of employees who are not engaged, which rose 10 percentage points to 56%. India has a slightly lower rate of not engaged workers at 48%, but one in five in the country are actively disengaged (19%). Actively disengaged employees feel disgruntled and disloyal because most of their workplace needs are unmet, and they actively oppose their employer's goals.
In addition to engagement struggles, many employees in South Asia are struggling or suffering, and the region has the lowest percentage of thriving employees globally at just 15% — 19 percentage points lower than the global average. This trend is true across all countries in the region surveyed, with India reporting the second-highest rate of thriving at only 14%, behind Nepal at 22%.
Worker Mental Health Challenges
Of all regions surveyed, South Asia reports the highest regional percentage of employees experiencing loneliness (29%), anger (34%) and sadness (42%) a lot of the previous day. Globally, those who work exclusively remotely are more likely to report being lonely. In India, the rates of anger and sadness are similar to the regional averages.
"While employee engagement and one's work life are not the sole determinant of life evaluation and daily emotions, career wellbeing plays a foundational role when we investigate what differentiates a thriving life from a struggling or suffering life," said Rajesh Srinivasan, global research director for Gallup's World Poll. "If someone experiences challenging working conditions, this is likely to impact various other aspects of their health and happiness."
Good Time to Find a Job
In South Asia, 48% of employees say it was a good time to find a job, down eight percentage points from the previous year. Employees in India report this metric at a higher rate than the regional average, with 57% saying that now is a good time to find a job, a 2% decrease from the year prior.
The region also ranks second globally for the rate of employees who intend to leave their positions, with 58% reporting that they are watching for or actively seeking a new job. In India, the rate is slightly lower at 52%.
"The region's high rate of employees looking to leave their current positions underscores the critical need for employers to engage and support their workforce more effectively," said Srinivasan. "Employers need to focus on prioritizing their employees' work-life experiences if they want to improve their wellness and reduce turnover."
About Gallup
Gallup delivers analytics and advice to help leaders and organizations solve their most pressing problems. Combining more than 80 years of experience with its global reach, Gallup knows more about the attitudes and behaviors of employees, customers, students and citizens than any other organization in the world.
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