Written by Kieran Delamont, Associate Editor, London Inc.

FOR ONLY THE second time since 2009, the global workforce grew less engaged and reported lower wellbeing last year, according to Gallup’s flagship State of the Global Workplace report.

This year’s survey found that global employee engagement fell by two per cent this year, which Gallup said is costing the world “an estimated $438 billion in lost productivity.” It’s only the second time such a drop has been recorded ― the other being 2020, when it also dropped by two points.

Wellbeing is also on the slide. “After five years of steady improvement, global employee life evaluations fell in 2023 and again in 2024, declining to 33 per cent,” Gallup says. “Last year’s two-point drop in engagement was equal to the decline during the year of Covid-19 lockdowns and shelter-in-place orders.”

In North America, the story is a mixed one. Our wellbeing scores are at record lows, and Canada’s employees rank among the world’s most stressed out and anxious. We’re also diverging from our neighbours to the south: U.S. engagement came in at 32 per cent, well above the global average, whereas Canada recorded only 21 per cent employee engagement. Our stress, anger, sadness and loneliness levels all exceed that of American workers. (That said, a majority of us ― 53 per cent ― still say we are thriving, so there’s that.)

Overall, an interesting trend noted by Gallup is that a big part of the decline is coming from a topic we’ve hit on before in this newsletter ― the ongoing plight of middle managers.

“The primary cause [of the drop in engagement] was a drop in manager engagement,” the report reads. “Since the pandemic, managers have been asked to square the circle of new executive demands and employee expectations; we are starting to see the toll.”

The disengagement of managers was particularly acute for two groups: young managers and women. “If manager engagement continues to decline, it won’t stop with managers, and it won’t stop with engagement.”

It’s a message that should be heeded in Canada, given our flagging productivity numbers and extreme level of employee disengagement.

“Gallup estimates that if the world’s workplace was fully engaged, US$9.6 trillion in productivity could be added to the global economy,” they wrote. Those kinds of gains could be had here, if we could only get our employees re-engaged.

But Gallup’s CEO also warns that the workplace is changing ― in particular, AI threatens to make things even worse.

“Gallup’s 2025 Global State of the Workplace Report offers what may be our last snapshot of a workforce on the cusp of seismic change,” Gallup CEO Jon Clifton said. “If mishandled, AI could diminish engagement by severing the vital human bonds ― friendships at work, a sense of being heard and genuine care from colleagues ― that keep teams thriving.” 

TECHNOLOGY

Mirror, mirror on the screen

The real culprit behind Zoom fatigue? Turns out it’s your own face

REMEMBER ZOOM FATIGUE? In 2020 and 2021 it was a hot topic as many of us adjusted to hours on video calls, which seemed to be uniquely exhausting, no matter how comfy your couch was.

As hybrid work returned, it mitigated the problem a little bit, but Zoom fatigue never really disappeared. And now, researchers are starting to uncover what, exactly, is going on.

A study by a team of researchers from around the globe set out to prove first that Zoom fatigue was a real phenomenon ― which they did, using headsets that monitored brain activity and heart rate monitors.

“There’s a certain patter of brain waves where we can detect if fatigue is starting to set in,” explained co-author Eoin Whelan, who teaches business analytics at the University of Galway. “If you're on five or six conference calls a day, which a lot of workers would be ... if that was to continue over days and weeks, it could lead to a fair amount of exhaustion for the worker."

But what surprised researches wasn’t that Zoom fatigue was real, but what seemed to prompt it: having to look at yourself.

“Our study shows that those feelings of fatigue you get during video calls are real, and seeing your own reflection makes it even more tiring. Simply turning off the mirror image can help offset fatigue in virtual meetings,” Whelan said.

That finding was replicated earlier this year by another study, which found that “facial appearance dissatisfaction” was closely linked to this feeling of Zoom fatigue.

“The increasing reliance on VMs has led to a pervasive experience of VM fatigue, commonly referred to as Zoom fatigue,” the authors said. “VM fatigue induced by facial dissatisfaction is associated with users perceiving VMs as less useful, ultimately affecting their intention to adopt VM platforms in workplace meetings.”

The bad news is that video calls are probably here to stay, especially if you prize your remote work. The good news, though, is that the researchers found that simple changes make them way more tolerable. First, make them shorter; second, stop putting your own face in the corner of the screen.

“We recommend a break after 30 minutes, because we found that after 50 minutes of videoconferencing, significant changes in physiological and subjective fatigue could be observed,” said René Riedl of Graz University. “Moreover, utilizing features like ‘speaker view’ to mitigate the intensity of perceived continuous eye contact could be helpful.”

CAREERS

All in the family business

Spurred by a cooling labour market and rocky economy, a young generation is taking a bigger interest in joining the family business

EVERY YOUNGER GENERATION has said, at one point or another, that there’s no waaaay they’re gonna join the family business.

Alas, faced with a crappy job market for white-collar grads, housing costs that mean they are shacked up with mom and dad anyways and a growing distaste for what corporate work has to offer, many new members of the workforce seem to be warming up to the idea of working for ma and pa. (Eagle-eyed readers of this newsletter might note my own last name, for what it’s worth…)

“The share of small businesses that employ a young adult child of an owner has doubled since 2018 and is up 13 per cent year of year as of January,” reported the Wall Street Journal, based on data provided by payroll company Gusto. They pointed out that while it’s a small share, it’s a significant reversal, since the trend for years has been going in the other direction.

“That movement is significant,” said Gusto economist Nich Tremper. He told WSJ that these adult children are also staying at these companies for longer, “suggesting all parties are benefiting from this arrangement.”

It might come at the right time for small businesses, too. In 2023, the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses warned of a “succession tsunami,” in which small biz owners aren’t adequately prepared to hand off their darlings to new owners. Maybe their progeny waiting in the wings might get them prepared?

A win-win could be on the table, think some economists. Research has found that “there is a higher likelihood of a successful succession when the children of the owner are introduced to the business through numerous opportunities as early as possible,” and that “involving the current owner’s children early in the business enables [family businesses] to have increased capacity to co-design with viable successors the path to ownership.”

But maybe heed the advice of one parent ― don’t hand it to your kids on a silver platter. “I think some people make a mistake by turning their kids into executives when they come out the gate,” said one auto parts company owner. “They still need to earn it.” 

CULTURE

Should you be nice to AI?

Does politeness actually change AI’s response? The short answer is, sort of. But one thing is certain ― it’s hella costly

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