Employee engagement among Polish workers has declined for the first time in four years and is now at its lowest level since the pandemic. At the same time, the share of employees who can be described as disengaged has increased. Altogether, 33% of employees now fall outside the active circle of engagement. These are the findings of the “Engagement 2025” report prepared by Enpulse, presenting the latest edition of the annual survey.
The overall engagement index in 2025 stood at 63%, representing a year-on-year decline of 3 percentage points and a return to the level recorded in 2021. The indicator is developed on the basis of respondents’ self-reported answers to questions covering six areas, such as rewards, workplace practices, and atmosphere. Each area is assessed across three dimensions. Lower engagement among Polish employees is also confirmed by declines in other parameters analyzed across 20 factors.
“Although a 3% drop in engagement may seem insignificant, it is anything but. The Enpulse study is cumulative, which means it captures changes that have become sustained over time rather than incidental fluctuations. This is already a systemic warning signal that the existing approach to managing engagement needs revision. The problem affects companies across industries and regions, both SMEs and large organizations,” emphasizes Magda Pietkiewicz, Enpulse expert and initiator of the study.
A shift toward indifference
In 2025, the share of employees classified as disengaged reached 19%, the highest level since the Enpulse study began. The increase of 5 percentage points resulted from a decrease in both disappointed and involved employees. At the same time, the share of people declaring active engagement in their professional duties fell slightly—by 1 percentage point year-on-year—to 53%.
“The decline in engagement sends a clear message: more and more people simply feel alienated within their companies. This is not only a matter of lacking motivation, but of everyday work becoming uncomfortable. Such frustration is contagious—one dissatisfied employee at the coffee machine can ruin the mood of an entire department in five minutes, and we have lost the ability to deal with moods and emotions,” says Magda Pietkiewicz, creator of Enpulse. “Why are we so negative today? The data from our study leaves no doubt: the causes run deeper than managers would like to admit. These are not minor management mistakes—we are talking about systemic failures in the way companies treat people. If the foundations of the employer–employee relationship are crumbling, no amount of ‘fruit Thursdays’ will fix it,” she adds.
Information noise
Communication is a critical area influencing employee engagement. As the only factor in the study, communication fell into the “watch out” category across all three dimensions of engagement: emotional, motivational, and rational. The results of the “Engagement 2025” study indicate that communication increasingly fails to fulfill its basic function—it does not provide clear direction, consistency of message, or a sense of purpose.
As many as 40% of employees—4 percentage points more than the previous year—rated the flow of information between management and employees as insufficient. At the same time, the percentage of people declaring familiarity with their organization’s mission declined (from 70% in 2024 to 65% in 2025). Only 56% of respondents confirmed that they were informed about company plans and its current situation.
“On paper everything looks great: we exchange thousands of emails, create dozens of chat threads, and spend endless hours in meetings. Yet what matters most—the clear direction and purpose of what we do—gets lost,” notes Magda Pietkiewicz. “In many organizations, communication focuses on quantity rather than quality. People are flooded with messages but lack context. They see change but do not understand the decisions behind it or where the company is heading. When employees feel like cogs in a machine, it is hard to expect initiative or genuine engagement. Communication is no longer an operational issue—it is a fundamental threat to an organization’s ability to function under uncertainty,” she stresses.
Crisis of trust and lack of influence
Data collected by Enpulse also points to a growing leadership crisis in Polish organizations. As many as 43% of respondents declared that they do not trust management decisions. At the same time, 42% believe their voices are not taken into account in decision-making processes—an increase of 3 percentage points compared to the previous measurement. The result is growing uncertainty and emotional distance among employees.
The willingness to influence what happens in the company fell by 9 percentage points year-on-year. Skepticism toward organizational change is also rising. Over the course of a year, the share of employees who viewed workplace changes as opportunities for development decreased by 3 percentage points.
“Whether employees trust their leaders, feel their voice matters, and how they interpret change—these are the foundations of any organization. A lack of openness is a direct path to paralysis,” notes Magda Pietkiewicz. “If people do not feel safe being honest, asking questions, or expressing doubts without fear of consequences, they simply stop speaking up. This is how learned helplessness develops. Employees do not cause conflicts or slam doors—they quietly withdraw and limit effort to the absolute minimum. The mechanism reinforces itself: the less we talk with leadership, the higher the wall between us becomes. At some point, the distance grows so large that communication essentially stops.”
“Declining scores in this area almost always translate into slower decision-making processes and the accumulation of hidden delays. When expectations are unclear, employees begin to operate at a minimally acceptable level instead of realizing their full potential. A lack of regular feedback leads to blurred accountability. As a result, organizations lose energy and momentum—often without clear warning signs such as rising turnover,” the expert concludes.
Teams in name only
The weakening of trust in organizations is increasingly reflected in team relationships. This is visible in the gap between declarations and the real experience of teamwork. Although 71% of respondents—3 percentage points more than a year earlier—say they “form a team,” other indicators paint a less optimistic picture.
The group of respondents who rated the atmosphere at work as friendly fell by 5 percentage points year-on-year. A similar decline was observed among those who described relationships with colleagues as motivating, while the number of employees agreeing with the statement that colleagues are willing to help one another dropped by as much as 7 percentage points.
“When trust weakens in an organization, cooperation becomes a fiction. Formally, teams still operate, complete tasks, and deliver results, but what binds them internally gradually disappears. This isn’t visible immediately in spreadsheets but in small gestures—or rather, their absence: no one volunteers to help, no one shares knowledge unless required, and taking shared responsibility becomes too risky. People start keeping a safe distance from each other. Step by step, the company loses its greatest asset—authentic relationships that allow it to survive difficult times,” says Magda Pietkiewicz.
“Declines in workplace practices and atmosphere mean that organizations lose the ability to collaborate across structures before open conflict or chaos even emerges,” she adds.
Employer brand under pressure
Building a company’s image through its employees is now a key element of organizational culture. However, Enpulse data shows that for several years fewer employees have been willing to recommend their employer. In 2025, this group dropped by 5 percentage points to 36%, compared with both 2024 and 2023.
Meanwhile, the share of critics—employees most dissatisfied with workplace conditions and inclined to express negative opinions about their employer—increased to 37%. This group has been growing continuously since 2023 and rose by as much as 7 percentage points compared to 2024.
“When work starts to feel uncomfortable, loyalty disappears as well. The decline in people willing to recommend their employer is not an accident or a temporary fluctuation—it is the result of a growing trend,” points out Magda Pietkiewicz. “For several years we have observed the bond between employees and companies simply breaking, while accumulated frustration spills outward and damages brand reputation. HR departments face a major challenge today: fighting for new talent makes no sense if loyalty among existing teams is collapsing at the same time. An organization’s image does not deteriorate first in the media—it deteriorates first in the eyes of its own employees,” the expert concludes.
Changing moods
Data collected by Enpulse as part of the “Engagement 2025” study shows a clear decline in employee engagement in Poland. Importantly, not only objective indicators fell, but also employees’ subjective perceptions. In 2025, 69% of respondents declared a high level of engagement in their work—6 percentage points lower than in both 2024 and 2023.
A similar proportion of respondents, 65%, stated that they are satisfied with their workplace and enjoy working there, marking a decline of 5 percentage points compared with 2024 and as much as 7 percentage points compared with 2023.
“Although the overall engagement level can still be considered satisfactory, the data hides an unsettling truth: for many people, work has become a waiting room. This is a direct consequence of what is happening in the labor market: fewer job offers, stronger competition, and an almost vanished sense of professional security. For organizations, this is a silent killer—innovation slows down, top specialists begin to burn out, and the employer brand becomes an empty slogan. The organization stops developing, even if turnover appears low on paper,” emphasizes Magda Pietkiewicz.
“To prevent this phenomenon, a return to fundamentals is necessary: transparent communication from management and giving employees real influence over the company. These must be embedded in the organization’s DNA and procedures. Without that, rebuilding team loyalty is impossible. In this context, implementing standards such as ISO 10018 may prove crucial—they motivate leaders to treat people as part of business strategy, not just a nice slogan on LinkedIn,” she concludes.
The full “Engagement 2025” report can be downloaded at: https://www.enpulse.eu/raport-zaangazowanie-2025
Methodological note: The “Engagement 2025” study was conducted between 1 January and 31 December 2025 using Enpulse’s proprietary methodology. The survey included 100,000 employees from Polish companies across various industries and regions of the country. The sample comprised adults aged 18 and older, employed in different roles and at various organizational levels.
