The data that got my attention
Three numbers from the latest workforce research should change how executives think about retention. Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace report finds that global manager engagement has fallen from 31% in 2022 to 22% in 2025. That nine-point drop is the steepest decline of any worker category. DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2025 adds that 71% of leaders report increased stress in their current role, and 40% have considered leaving to protect their well-being. Gallup also confirms that managers account for roughly 70% of the variance in team engagement. When the people who set the team’s tone lose energy, the effect spreads outward fast.
| Indicator | Baseline | 2025 figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Global manager engagement | 31% (2022) | 22% | Gallup 2026 |
| Single-year manager engagement drop | 27% (2024) | 22% | Gallup 2026 |
| Leaders reporting increased stress | — | 71% | DDI 2025 |
| Leaders considering leaving due to stress | — | 40% | DDI 2025 |
| Variance in team engagement tied to the manager | — | ~70% | Gallup |
| Annual burnout cost per manager | — | $10,824 | Gallup / SHRM |
| Managers with strong delegation skills | — | 19% | DDI 2025 |
| Best-practice organization manager engagement | — | 79% | Gallup 2026 |
The most striking contrast is the last line. While the global average collapses, organizations that build manager capability hold manager engagement at 79%. The gap is not about the economy or industry. It is about how leaders are supported.
Why this matters now
Manager burnout is no longer a private wellness issue. It has become a team-wide performance and retention risk. Research from the American Journal of Preventive Medicine puts the annual cost of burnout at $10,824 per manager, roughly 2.7 times the cost for a non-managerial hourly employee. Globally, manager burnout drains an estimated $438 billion from the economy every year.
Those costs show up in places that are easy to miss at first. Burned-out managers are 34% less likely to rate their own effectiveness above their peers. They are 3.5 times more likely to leave for their well-being. When they go, they take institutional knowledge, team stability, and leadership capacity with them. DDI’s data shows that 77% of CHROs now lack confidence in their bench strength for critical roles. The pipeline is thinning at exactly the moment organizations need more leadership, not less.
What the research actually shows
The root cause is not a sudden wave of fragile leaders. It is a work system that asks managers to carry more without giving them the tools, time, or trust to do the job well. DDI found that only 30% of leaders feel they have enough time to do their jobs. Only 19% demonstrate strong delegation skills. Yet delegation is the single most powerful burnout-mitigation skill, five times more impactful than any other according to DDI’s analysis of 10,796 leaders.
Conflict resolution ranks second. Unresolved team friction consumes emotional energy and extends workdays. Meanwhile, trust remains low: only 29% of leaders trust their immediate manager, and 31% trust senior leaders. Leaders who distrust their direct manager are 3.2 times more likely to worry about burnout. Those who distrust senior leaders face an even higher risk, at 4.3 times.
Other signals confirm the same pattern. Microsoft’s Work Trend Index found that 64% of employees lack the time and energy to complete their work. UK research from Ciphr reports that 25% of managers think about leaving their jobs most or all of the time because of people pressure, and 74% of managers aged 25 to 34 say they have felt burnt out or in need of a complete break in the past year.
A practical framework for leaders
Treating manager burnout as a resilience problem is the wrong starting point. The fix lies in workload design, skill building, and trust repair. Here is a four-part framework executive teams can put in place this quarter:
- Audit spans and administrative load. Map direct reports, dotted-line responsibilities, and recurring meetings. Start by identifying managers who are structurally overloaded.
- Teach delegation and conflict conversations. Delegation is the most useful skill for reducing burnout, but only 19% of managers do it well. Run targeted sessions on handing off work, accountability, and resolving friction early.
- Protect recovery time. Track after-hours work, unused vacation, and meeting density. Make recovery a measured leadership behavior, not a private choice.
- Measure manager engagement with the same rigor as employee engagement. Add manager-specific questions on time scarcity, role clarity, upward trust, and access to development.
The bottom line
Manager burnout multiplies. One burned-out manager does not create one attrition risk. It creates a cluster of disengaged direct reports, missed handoffs, slower decisions, and higher turnover across the team. Gallup’s finding that managers drive 70% of team engagement variance means that protecting the manager layer is the most efficient way to protect the entire workforce.
The good news is that the data also shows a clear path. Best-practice organizations hold manager engagement at 79% while the global average falls to 22%. The difference is not luck. It is a deliberate investment in manager capacity, skills, and trust.
Where to go from here
If your leadership pipeline is showing stress cracks, assessment-informed coaching can give executives the data and structure they need to change the patterns that drive burnout. Explore executive coaching with personality assessments →
