Low employee engagement inflicts a $95b productivity hit

Daily stress affects over half of younger staff amidst higher costs.

Singapore’s disengaged workforce could cost the economy almost $100b in lost productivity annually, with only 14% of employees feeling connected to their work, according to a Singapore Institute of Directors (SID) and Gallup report.

The market’s overall engagement level was below the Southeast Asia average of 25% and the global mean of 20%.

The findings come as economic growth is expected to slow to 2% to 4% this year, after expanding 5% in the previous year, the report said.

About 86% of the workforce was disengaged in 2025, resulting in an estimated $95b in lost productivity annually.

“Workforce engagement, organisational culture and leadership capability are strategic priorities directly linked to productivity, innovation, resilience and sustainable growth,” Yeoh Oon Jin, chair of SID, said.

Younger workers reported an engagement rate of just 10%, compared with 16% amongst those aged 35 and above.

They were also more likely to report negative emotions at work, as over half, or 53%, said they experienced daily stress, compared with 37% of thosolder, along with reporting higher levels of daily worry, anger, and sadness.

The study said the findings challenge the view that the younger generation is less committed, noting that their lower engagement was linked to workplace and economic conditions.

These include high living costs, national service obligations, limited career paths and growing job uncertainty, it added.

In a separate report, Randstad Singapore said nearly half of workers would consider leaving their current employer to improve work-life balance, highlighting retention pressure for companies.

It found that 43% of respondents would resign specifically to improve work-life balance, slightly below the 44% who cited compensation as their top reason for leaving.

Work-life balance also ranked as the top factor when evaluating an employer, with 68% of respondents prioritising it, ahead of the 64% who cited attractive salary and benefits, Randstad added.

Meanwhile, the SID-Gallup report showed leaders rated their organisations’ efforts to adapt working practices for younger employees at 3.25 out of 5. No respondent strongly agreed that their organisation was doing this well.

It also pointed to managers as a major factor behind low engagement. Gallup said 70% of the variation in team engagement is linked to the direct manager. Despite this, leaders rated manager effectiveness at only 3.32 out of 5. 

They rated their leadership pipeline lower, at 3.05 out of 5.