Hybrid and remote employees in organizations adopting AI experienced the sharpest declines.
U.S. employee engagement fell to 29% in the third quarter of 2026, its lowest level since 2011 and down two percentage points from the previous quarter. The share of actively disengaged employees rose from 17% to 18%, while 53% were not engaged.
The latest decline was sharpest among remote and hybrid employees, particularly those in organizations that have adopted artificial intelligence. Employees also reported less clarity about what is expected of them at work and were less likely to feel that someone at work cares about them as a person. These findings raise questions about whether communication and manager support are keeping pace with AI integration.
I agree, and I’d call it a weird metric, and I am not sure this says much, except that if people feel they are underpaid, of course their enthusiasm will drop. So my guess this is a result of people feeling underpaid or treated poorly.
The employee engagement thing sounds 100% like something designed for the employers, so they can see how “dedicated” their workers are.