Singapore workplace report flags 14% employee engagement as competitiveness risk

Singapore,UPDATED: Jun 22, 2026 13:02 IST

Singapore's workforce is among the least engaged in the world, with only 14 per cent of employees saying they feel engaged at work, according to a new report. The study said this could raise concerns about the city-state's future competitiveness.

The inaugural Singapore Workplace Report 2026, published by the Singapore Institute of Directors and US analytics firm Gallup, found that Singapore was below the global average of 20 per cent and the Southeast Asian average of 25 per cent in 2025. The report said workplace engagement in Singapore has remained largely unchanged since falling in 2019.

By comparison, employee engagement stood at 9 per cent in Vietnam, 25 per cent in Malaysia, 27 per cent in Indonesia and 34 per cent in Thailand in 2025. The report described Singapore's "chronically low engagement" as a possible "strategic liability" that could hold back the economy's future competitiveness.

Speaking at the launch of the report, Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash said many organisations still treat human capital as a human resources function instead of a strategic priority. This approach could become a "strategic liability", he said, adding that organisations perform better over the long term when human capital is managed with the same rigour as financial capital. "Reframing human capital as a strategic issue requires leadership at the highest level. When human capital is treated with the same rigour and discipline as financial capital, for example, organisations make better decisions about their people, and these better decisions then translate directly into better long-term performance," Channel News Asia quoted Vasu Dash as saying.

The study defined employee engagement as the level of involvement and enthusiasm workers have for their jobs. It looked at factors such as fulfilment of basic workplace needs, opportunities to contribute, a sense of belonging, and prospects for learning and growth. According to the report, disengagement may be costing Singapore billions of dollars every year through lost productivity. It cited estimates showing that low employee engagement cost the global economy about USD 10 trillion in 2025, or nearly 9 per cent of global GDP. It added that this matters even more for Singapore because its economy is highly services-oriented, where worker engagement has a bigger impact.

Several senior corporate leaders linked low employee engagement to factors such as global economic conditions, labour market policies, the prevalence of family-owned small and medium enterprises, and Singapore's highly competitive business environment. The study said managers are the most important driver of employee engagement, but they often get inadequate support and investment. It found that many organisations spend heavily on senior leadership development and technical training while giving comparatively less support to people managers. Researchers also found that managers often lack the authority to deal with workplace conditions that affect employee engagement and well-being.

The report also pointed to a sharp generational divide. Workers below the age of 35 reported lower engagement levels and higher levels of negative emotions than older employees. Younger employees were less likely to be thriving at work and reported higher daily stress levels than workers aged 35 and above. "The generational split is real and not imagined, and consequently, Singapore's employers need to respond to the unique needs of younger employees," the report said.

The survey also looked at views on artificial intelligence among senior corporate leaders. While most leaders said they were confident their organisations could use the benefits of AI while managing the risks, the report said they were "less optimistic" about the "preparedness of the country's employees to adapt to disruptive forces such as AI adoption". The survey was conducted through telephone interviews with around 1,000 workers between June and July 2025, underlining the report's wider warning that weak engagement, manager support gaps and employee readiness could weigh on Singapore's workplace performance.

With PTI Inputs

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