India leads in workplace disengagement as ‘Quiet Quitting’ trend rises. Why are Indians mentally checking out at jobs?
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The trend came into focus once again following the latest annual survey by Gallup. published on Wednesday The State of the Global Workplace 2026 The report analyzed the mood and well-being of employees in 160 countries and found that employee engagement has declined for the second year in a row.
The findings highlight a worrying pattern in South Asia, where the sharpest decline in employee engagement globally has been recorded mostly in India. The region also had the lowest number of workers identified as “thriving” and the highest daily distress.
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India’s Workplace Reality: Engagement and Disengagement
The report reveals that there have been major changes in employee engagement in India over the last 15 years. While the share of actively disengaged employees has decreased, the proportion of engaged employees has improved overall. But recent trends point to a reversal, signaling that muting is firmly rooted in workplaces in India. There is also a worrying decline in managers’ participation levels over the same period.
Long-term data comparisons show that the proportion of actively disengaged workers has dropped significantly from 31% in 2010-12 to 18.47% in 2023-25. Meanwhile, the “unoccupied” category saw only a marginal decline from 59.98% to 59.02%. The percentage of engaged employees increased from 9.03% to 22.51%, but fell again after peaking at 33.17% in 2020-22.
Executive participation has also weakened. According to Gallup data, this rate, which was at 39% in the 2022-24 period, dropped sharply to 30% in 2023-25.
Leadership Gap Affects Departure
“The big question is whether Indian workplaces have enough great managers who can deliver an engaging experience directly to their team members. This is something the entire world is struggling with – shortage of talented managers and increasing scope,” said Puneet Singh, Gallup Regional Director (Research & Analytics) Asia-Pacific.
The report defines workplace engagement as the psychological connection employees have with their jobs, teams, and organizations. He assesses this through 12 key statements: “There is someone at work who encourages my development,” “I have received recognition or praise for doing good work in the last seven days,” and “I have had opportunities to learn and develop at work in the past year.”
Based on these responses, employees fall into three categories: engaged, disengaged, or actively disengaged, a classification system that Gallup has used consistently since 2009.
Quiet Quiet and Quiet Loud Explained
The report makes clear that the decline in engagement is driven not by actively disengaged employees, but by a growing segment of “disengaged” employees, often known as silent quitters.
Explaining this phenomenon, Singh said, “Quiet disengagement means that employees work for themselves, do not put in any discretionary effort at work, and have no connection with the mission or purpose of the organization. Employees who disengage loudly or are actively disengaged are those who are disgruntled or actively working against the organization; they are angry, unhappy, and insist on sharing this with others.”
Economic Impact and Executive Burnout
Low engagement levels aren’t just an issue for HR; It directly affects business performance and economic growth.
“While engagement occurs at the team level, absent or actively disengaged employees lead to less profitable organizations, which in turn leads to lower economic growth,” the report stated.
The research also highlights a global decline in executive engagement, with leaders losing their traditional “engagement bonuses.” Instead, managers are now as disconnected as their teams. Between 2024 and 2025, global executive participation fell sharply from 27% to 22%, marking the steepest annual decline. South Asia, led by India, recorded the largest regional decline, with an eight-point decline.
Increasing Stress, Anger and Sadness in India
Beyond engagement, the report paints a worrying picture of employee wellbeing. Using the Life Evaluation framework, participants were classified as successful, struggling, or suffering.
Participants were asked, “Did you experience the following emotions most of the day yesterday: Stress, anxiety, anger, sadness, loneliness?”
South Asia recorded the lowest number of successful individuals at only 16% compared to the global average of 34%. The region also ranked high on daily sadness at 36% (versus 23% globally) and reported higher levels of daily anger at 31% compared to the global average of 22%.
Emotional stress at workplace in India has intensified over time. Reported anger increased from 28% in 2008-10 to 34% in 2022-24, while sadness increased from 24% to 39% in the same period. In 2025, these figures stood at 31% for anger and 36% for sadness, based on a three-year moving average.
About the Survey
The report is based on long-term global surveys that Gallup has conducted since 2005 using randomly selected samples of adults. The 2025 dataset includes responses from 141,444 working individuals aged 15 and over worldwide. In India, the sample size for the 2023-25 transition period was 3,095 respondents and all turnout projections were derived from unweighted survey data.
