Lower engagement among managers accounts for most of the recent downturn in employee engagement.
The Shrinking Perk of Being a Manager. Since 2022, manager engagement has dropped by nine points. Individual contributor engagement also declined but has had a slight rebound. The largest year-over-year drop in manager engagement occurred between 2024 and 2025, when it declined by five points from 27% to 22%. In short, managers used to enjoy an “engagement premium” at work , but they are increasingly only as engaged as those they lead. South Asia’s decline in manager engagement suggests organizational flattening may be a factor. In 2025, South Asia (primarily India) experienced an eight-point decline in manager engagement, the largest decline of any region. At the same time, the percentage of managers in South Asia also declined, suggesting that employers are cutting management roles. Top IT firms add just 17 staff in nine months, hiring nearly freezes. Some evidence suggests that in 2025, India’s IT sector saw a substantial slowdown in hiring, along with cuts to mid-level and senio...