2023 Employee Engagement & Loyalty Statistics

It's 2023, year of the uneven job market where some industries are laying off while others are struggling to hire and are chronically understaffed. Most of us feel even further from answering the question: how can we find, hire and keep skilled employees?

That hasn't stopped businesses from trying. They've been busy surveying employees of all kinds to learn exactly what they want, even demand from their employers. Luckily for all of us, they've shared their findings with the world.

Trends in 2023 show that many companies are turning their focus to employee retention. They show that employees are more vulnerable than ever to burnout. Other studies indicate the importance of good leadership and friends at work. 

At Access Perks, we join the conversation with our analysis of important topics regarding all things employee loyalty and engagement throughout this blog. This page, however, is dedicated to the raw data. Sometimes the statistics differ, or even contradict each other. We'll let you decide for yourself where the truth is. Just click the link after every statistic to be directed back to its source. 

Jump to the sections below:

• 2023 Employee Engagement & Retention Statistics
• 2023 Workplace Satisfaction Statistics
• 2023 Miscellaneous Workplace Statistics

Of course, all of these statistics will also find their way onto our Ultimate Collection of Employee Engagement & Loyalty Statistics.

Stats related to Millennials will also be added to our database of Millennial Employee Engagement & Loyalty Statistics.

Looking for employee benefits and perks stats? We've got those too! You'll find the 2023 benefits and perks stats organized in this post, and of course, all the stats from the last decade in our ultimate collection here.

Have data you'd like to see on these pages? Drop us a link in the comments.

This page is brought to you courtesy of Access Perks, provider of America's best employee discount programs. Visit our site to learn more!

2023 Employee Engagement/Retention Statistics

• 95% of employees are open to looking for a new job in the next year (Future Forum, 2023)
• 83% of businesses expect to invest more into retention in the next 12 months than they did in the last 12 months (Lattice, 2023)
• 61% of businesses are prioritizing retention, compared to 17% that are prioritizing talent acquisition in 2023 (Lattice, 2023)
• 86% of HR teams will put more effort into improving employee engagement than they have in the past, 41% are making it their top priority (Lattice, 2023)
• 55% of employers are prioritizing retention (Maven Clinic, 2023)
• Lost productivity from unengaged employees equals about 18% of their annual salary (People Element, 2023)
• 2023 saw a 69% overall job satisfaction, up from 66% in 2022, which was the lowest rating in 20 years (Metlife, 2023)
• 74% of employees intend to remain at their current job for the next 12 months, up from 70% in 2022, but still down from 80% in 2018 (Metlife, 2023)
• Replacing workers costs about 2x their annual salary which equals about $25,000 to $100,000 (People Element, 2023)
• Highly engaged employees see an 81% improvement in “absenteeism” and 66% improvement in well-being (People Element, 2023)
• Highly engaged workforces see 43% lower turnover rates, 64% fewer accidents and 43% less absenteeism, 14% higher productivity, 18% higher sales and 68% higher well-being (People Element, 2023)
• In order to close skills gaps in their organization, HR professionals are: (McLean, 2023)
  • Recruiting new talent (78%)
  • Providing internal training and development opportunities (78%)
  • Creating learning paths (48%)
  • Subsidizing external training and development (45%)
• Employees with rigid schedules are 2.5x as likely to “definitely” look for another job within a year (Future Forum, 2023)
• Employees who are burned out at work are 3.4x as likely to say they “definitely” plan to look for a new job within the year compared to those who are not burned out (Future Forum, 2023)
• People who have experienced burnout in the last year are 36% more likely to have lower morale, 30% more likely to be less engaged, 27% more likely to make more mistakes and 25% more likely to leave the company (People Element, 2023)
• Employees who are able to work the way they prefer are more than twice as likely to be highly engaged and are 22% more likely to say they will not job hunt in 2023 (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 61% of employees have one foot out the door (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• The top reasons employees are considering finding a new job in 2023 include: (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
  • Work flexibility (28%)
  • Career progression (28%)
  • Compensation (13%)
  • Recognition at work (9%)
  • Better culture and values fit (8%)
  • Corporate benefits (2%)
• The top reasons employees plan to stay at their current jobs in 2023 include: (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
  • Flexibility (28%)
  • Strong sense of belonging (11%)
  • Strong working relationship with manager (11%)
  • Career progression (11%)
  • Compensation (11%)
  • Recognition at work (10%)
  • Corporate benefits (4%)
• In 2023, HR professionals are prioritizing the following to engage and retain: (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
  • Employee wellbeing (59%)
  • Flexibility in when and where employees work (52%)
  • Growth and learning opportunities (44%)
  • Recognition and rewards (39%)
  • Better listening & acting on feedback (37%)
• 58% of U.S. HR professionals (66% globally) say labor shortages are getting worse (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 79% of employees report they would stay longer at a job where they feel supported, cared for and valued. Only 21% would stay longer at a job where they don’t feel valued, but are paid 30% more (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 39% of people who are definitely not job hunting in 2023 would consider a job offer from headhunters (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 81% of employees found their current position by job hunting, while 19% were headhunted (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• Employees who report that their employer takes meaningful action on their feedback are 37% less likely to job hunt in 2023 (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• Employees with a strong sense of belonging are 21% less likely to job hunt in 2023 (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 62% of employees feel highly engaged at work when recognized weekly. The number drops to 34% when recognized monthly, 25% when recognized quarterly and 13% when never recognized (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• Women are 23% less engaged and 28% less likely to feel a strong connection at work, compared to their male co-workers (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 36% of U.S. workers plan to job hunt in 2023, compared to 38% globally (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 45% of U.S. workers do not plan on job hunting in 2023, compared to 39% globally (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• North American employees’ top drivers affecting intent to stay are: (Qualtrics, 2023)
  • Ability to meet career goals
  • Alignment with values
  • Pay fairness
  • Benefits that meet needs
  • Belief that company has outstanding future
• Employees who feel cared for at work are: (Metlife, 2023)
  • 92% more likely to feel engaged at work
  • 65% more likely to be loyal
  • 56% more likely to be productive at work
• When HR professionals don’t go home on time, they are 70% more likely to be dissatisfied with their work and 99% less likely to look forward to coming to work (Access Perks, 2023)
• 30% of HR professionals are looking for a new job outside of HR (Access Perks, 2023)
• 19% of HR professionals are concerned about losing their jobs, a 12% increase over 2022 (Access Perks, 2023)

2023 Workplace Satisfaction Statistics

• Job satisfaction among Gen Z is only at 60% in 2023, 10 percentage points lower than every other age group (Metlife, 2023)
• Employees who believe their company to be transparent have 8.8x greater job satisfaction than those who believe the opposite (Future Forum, 2023)
• Employees who work at “technology innovators” are 1.6x more productive, have 2x the ability to focus, have 2.2x higher sense of belonging and a 2.8x higher overall satisfaction (Future Forum, 2023)
• 72% of HR leaders reported that employees may feel disconnected because of reduced facetime due to remote work (Lattice, 2023)
• 62% of HR leaders reported that its hard to track employee morale because of reduced facetime due to remote work (Lattice, 2023)
• 60% of HR professionals are more stressed today than they were 3 years ago (McLean, 2023)
• 39% of HR professionals are experiencing burnout (McLean, 2023)
• 35% of employees report feeling higher levels of stress, 38% report feeling burnout (McLean, 2023)
• Employees with a high sense of purpose were 1.8x less likely to report burnout (McLean, 2023)
• The top 3 reported factors that contribute to burnout are: workload, blurred work/life boundaries, toxic work environment (McLean, 2023)
• 75% of HR teams that report an excellent employee experience design also report they high DEI performance, compared to 31% of those with poor employee experience design (McLean, 2023)
• 89% of HR teams that report an excellent employee experience design also report they high workforce productivity, compared to 51% of those with poor employee experience design (McLean, 2023)
• 77% of leaders believe their essential business communications are helpful and relevant, while only 46% of employees agree (Axios, 2023)
• 78% of leaders believe their essential business communications are clear and engaging, while only 51% of employees agree (Axios, 2023)
• 78% of leaders believe their essential business communications have the context employees need to do their job well, while only 46% of employees agree (Axios, 2023)
• For leaders the top 3 most critical updates that create team alignment are 1. Culture and values, 2. Personnel updates (like new hires and departures) and 3. People operations (like benefits and DEI initiatives) (Axios, 2023)
• For leaders the top 3 most critical updates that create team alignment are 1. Culture and values, 2. Personnel updates (like new hires and departures) and 3. People operations (like benefits and DEI initiatives) (Axios, 2023)
• For leaders the top 3 most critical updates that create team alignment are 1. Operational changes (like process and policy updates), 2. Organizational goals (like plans and new initiatives) and 3. People operations (like benefits and DEI initiatives) (Axios, 2023)
• 53% of organizations rely on unsolicited employee feedback to determine if communication is effective (Axios, 2023)
• Ineffective communication costs businesses $15,000 per employee per year, which adds up to $2 trillion annually in the U.S. (Axios, 2023)
• When it comes to keeping the organization aligned, 47% of leaders report that the hardest part is writing communications that are concise, engaging, actually read and not lost in the daily flood of information (Axios, 2023)
• Leaders estimate they spend 3-10+ hours per week preparing essential communications for the organization (Axios, 2023)
• 40% of employees want more thoughtful and insightful details in essential company emails (Axios, 2023)
• 36% of employees want to hear from leaders more often (Axios, 2023)
• 52% of owners, presidents and C-suite executives send essential communications multiple times a weeks, 38% of VPs and directors, and 38% of managers do the same (Axios, 2023)
• 36% of employees want to share feedback on essential communications, but don’t have the opportunity (Axios, 2023)
• 55% of leaders believe their organization does an excellent or good job of keeping employees on the same page via essential communications (Axios, 2023)
• 40% of employees prefer to receive essential communication via email, 33% via formal meetings, and 27% via recurring newsletters (Axios, 2023)
• Remote and hybrid workers were 57% more likely to say their company culture improved in the past two years. They cited flexible work policies as the #1 reason culture improved (Future Forum, 2023)
• 32% of hybrid workers feel very connected with company values, compared to 28% of fully in-person employees (Future Forum, 2023)
• 39% of hybrid employees feel very connected with their direct manager, compared to 34% of fully in-person employees (Future Forum, 2023)
• 53% of employees who are dissatisfied with their level of flexibility say they are burned out, compared to 37% of employees who are satisfied with their level of flexibility (Future Forum, 2023)
• Employees are motivated to want to work in office mostly for the chance to collaborate (33%) and build camaraderie (23%) (Future Forum, 2023)
• 65% of employees say they feel valued at work (People Element, 2023)
• 61% of employees feel leadership values employees (People Element, 2023)
• 52% of employees say having a caring, empathetic leader is more important now than it was before the pandemic (People Element, 2023)
• 68% of workers feel encouraged to share opinions and feedback (People Element, 2023)
• 64% of workers feel their ideas and suggestions are considered at work (People Element, 2023)
• 69% of workers feel supported in maintaining a work-life balance (People Element, 2023)
• When asked what would make them feel more connected with work and co-workers, the highest percentage (45%) said “feeling meaningfully recognized” (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 53% of employees felt a strong connection with co-workers when recognized weekly, the number drops to 30% when recognized monthly, 18% when recognized quarterly and 7% when never recognized (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• Employee satisfaction with work-life balance fell from 73% in 2022 to 71% in 2023 (Qualtrics, 2023)
• Globally, 63% of employees with great work-life balance would go above and beyond for their organization, while only 29% of those with poor work-life balance would (Qualtrics, 2023)
• In North America, 72% of employees with great work-life balance would go above and beyond for their organization, while only 37% of those with poor work-life balance would (Qualtrics, 2023)
• 84% of C-Suite and 77% of directors are satisfied with work-life balance, compared to 67% of individual contributors who are satisfied (Qualtrics, 2023)
• 38% of employees are at risk of burnout as a result of inefficient work processes (Qualtrics, 2023)
• 63% of employees who feel their current technology allows them to be as productive as possible in 2023, compared to 68% in 2022 (Qualtrics, 2023)
• The risk for burnout is higher among employees identifying as having mental disabilities (50%), physical disabilities (50%) or both (52%) (Qualtrics, 2023)
• 64% of employees believe their career goals can be met at their current organization (Qualtrics, 2023)
• On average, fewer females (60%), Gen Z (59%), fully on-site workers (60%) and lower income earners (59%) felt cared for at work than their counterparts (Metlife, 2023)
• Employees say it is important for me to have control over: (Metlife, 2023)
  • How I get my work done (83%)
  • The type of work I do (79%)
  • Where I work (77%)
  • When I work (75%)
• 58% of workers consider purposeful work to be a must-have when deciding to stay at a current job or accept a new job (Metlife, 2023)
• In 2023, 30% of employees without purposeful work intended to remain with a current employer for the next 12 months, down from 53% in 2021 (Metlife, 2023)
• 71% of employees report feeling a strong sense of purpose at work, and 72% are very satisfied with how purposeful or meaningful their work is (Metlife, 2023)
• 93% of HR professionals say they have a good relationship with the employees at their company, and 81% have a good relationship with senior executives (Access Perks, 2023)
• 66% of HR professionals report they have a seat at the strategic table at their company (Access Perks, 2023)
• 62% of employees say their company has created a positive work culture (Access Perks, 2023)
• 56% of HR professional say believe their company is truly committed to work/life balance, but 14% over 2022 (Access Perks, 2023)
• 16% of HR professionals report they work in a toxic environment (Access Perks, 2023)

Miscellaneous Workplace Statistics

These don't necessarily fit into one of the above categories, but they're definitely impactful on employee engagement and as a result, customer engagement. They show a changing workplace, where it's becoming harder to attract top talent while transitioning to the unique millennial and gen Z mindset.

• By 2030, 30% of the global workforce will be composed of Gen-Z (People Element, 2023)
• Only 38% of HR teams report they are high performing in the DEI space (McLean, 2023)
• 37% of organizations have a formal, documented DEI strategy (McLean, 2023)
• Top barriers to DEI progress by HR teams include: (McLean, 2023)
  • Dedicated time for DEI work (59%)
  • Resources and funding (43%)
  • Lack of data (34%)
  • Lack of leadership support (29%)
• 42% of HR professionals report their team has converted their processes, documents, etc into digital format with the help of technology (McLean, 2023)
• 82% of HR teams who are using more digital technology say it increases their capacity to be more strategic, 79% that they can make more data-driven decisions and 93% that they can automate administrative tasks (McLean, 2023)
• 78% of highly effective HR teams are upskilling employees on digital and technology literacy (McLean, 2023)
• Only 3% of organizations claim they have no skills gaps for any employee (McLean, 2023)
• 47% of HR professionals report that first-time leaders have the largest skill and competency gap in their organization, compared to 16% reporting individual contributors and 14% reporting experienced leaders (McLean, 2023)
• 46% of women and 37% of men are burned out (Future Forum, 2023)
• 48% of workers under age 30, and 40% of workers age 30 and up say they are burned out (Future Forum, 2023)
• Among people who reported feeling burnout, 84% said at least one workplace factor negatively impacted their mental health (People Element, 2023)
• 84% of HR leaders report that diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are a top priority for 2023 (Achievers Workforce Institute, 2023)
• 38% of employees are experiencing symptoms of burnout (Qualtrics, 2023)
• 48% of employees report that financial concerns are hurting their mental health, compared to 31% in 2022 (Metlife, 2023)
• 83% of employers believe their employees are financially healthy, only 55% of employees agree (Metlife, 2023)
• 86% of employers believe their employees are socially healthy, only 67% of employees agree (Metlife, 2023)
• More than 90% of employees are worried about inflationary pressures and rising costs (Metlife, 2023)
• 41% of workers want their employers to take action on environmental and sustainability issues, with Gen Z being the most likely to want this at 47% (Metlife, 2023)
• 36% of workers want their employers to take a stand on social and political issues, with Gen Z being the most likely to want this at 45% (Metlife, 2023)
• Managers are 1.5x more likely to be caregivers for children under 18 than non-manager employees (Metlife, 2023)
• The top stressor for HR professionals in 2023 is hiring/recruiting, with 76% saying it causes them significant or moderate stress, down 13% from last year (Access Perks, 2023)
• 66% of HR professionals report feeling significant or moderate stress from “dealing with executives’ demands”, down 11% from 2022 (Access Perks, 2023)
• For 67% of HR professionals, employee discipline is the second most significant concern (Access Perks, 2023)
• 30% of HR professionals have witnessed one of their company’s executives do something deceiving or unethical (Access Perks, 2023)

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