Romania ranks among the top European countries in terms of employee engagement, with a level of 31%, according to the “State of the Global Workplace 2026” report conducted by Gallup.
According to the report, employees’ interest in their workplace is declining globally, and it currently sits at 20%, the lowest level since 2020. At the same time, Europe remains the region with the lowest level of engagement for the sixth consecutive year, although employees say they feel less stress compared to those in the United States and Canada.
Employees’ motivation level has a direct economic impact on companies. According to the report, the decline in motivation can have a major impact on the global economy, with losses estimated at up to 9% of global GDP.
Romania is among the European countries with the highest levels of employee engagement, according to Gallup. The data show that 31% of employees in Romania are engaged at work, placing the country among the top in Europe, alongside Albania (32%), Sweden (25%), and Malta (25%).
In contrast, the lowest levels of engagement are recorded in Croatia (7%), Poland (7%), France (8%), Switzerland (8%), Luxembourg (9%), Ireland (9%), and Austria (9%).
Globally, the data show a strong contrast between stress and engagement from one region to another. While some areas combine high levels of pressure with solid employee engagement, Europe records a moderate stress level (39%), but remains far behind in engagement (12%).
The United States and Canada have the most engaged workforces (31%), but also the highest levels of stress (50%). Latin America and the Caribbean have comparable levels of stress (49%) and engagement (30%). The Middle East and North Africa have some of the lowest levels of stress (21%) and engagement (14%).
In terms of stress, southern Europeans are the most affected. The highest stress levels are recorded in Greece (61%), Malta (57%), Cyprus (56%), Italy (51%), and Spain (47%). At the opposite end, Denmark (19%), Poland (22%), and Lithuania (23%) are the countries where employees feel the least pressure.
Despite the low level of engagement, European employees perform better in terms of well-being: 49% of them say they are “thriving,” compared to 34% globally. The happiest countries in Europe are Finland (81%), Iceland (78%), and Denmark (78%).
The most stressed employees are represented by managers, people under 35, and those who work in a hybrid system.
The data show that the least engaged employees are generally young people under 35, without leadership positions, and without access to remote work, even partially. At the same time, 15% of employees said they are consciously disengaging from work, team, and employer, a phenomenon known as “quiet quitting.”
The research points out that this is the first time global engagement has declined for two consecutive years, without any region of the world recording increases in the past year.
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