In Brief: Employee Engagement Falling; Leadership Lessons From Warren Buffett

Around the world, employee engagement fell to 21% of the workforce last year, with managers experiencing the largest declines, according to Gallup’s “State of the Global Workplace 2025 Report.” The two-point drop means the global economy lost $438 billion in productivity in 2024, the research organization says. 

According to Gallup’s report, when employees are engaged in their work, they’re more productive and produce better business outcomes than disengaged employees do. And when managers are not engaged in their own work, their teams lose interest, too. 

In fact, 70% of employee engagement is attributable to the manager, the report says. Manager engagement fell from 30% to 27% in 2024, with young and female managers experiencing the largest declines. 

Employee evaluations of their overall lives also declined, with managers reporting the largest drops, particularly older and female managers. Among employees surveyed around the world, just one-third say they’re thriving in their lives overall.

Warren Buffett’s Legacy of Leadership Lessons 

For decades, Warren Buffett has dispensed his investing and management wisdom. In May, “The Oracle of Omaha” announced he would retire as CEO of holding company Berkshire Hathaway in January, but the board voted to retain him as chairman. The Wall Street Journal asked other CEOs what Buffett has taught them. 

“Do you ever talk about what could go wrong?” Buffett once asked David Novak, then-CEO of fast-food giant Yum Brands, which includes Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. Being upfront about potential challenges could build trust, Buffett told him. 

From then on, during presentations to investors, Novak would share two or three potential pitfalls the company might face. “Once I started doing it, I realized he was 100% right on,” Novak recalled.

Larry Culp, CEO of GE Aerospace, said Buffett’s advice has been crucial to the company’s success. Above all, “pick the right leaders — not only for their ability, but for their values,” Buffett told Culp. And “set ambitious but not unreasonable expectations.”

Americans Expect AI to Deteriorate News

Americans think artificial intelligence will have a negative long-term effect on the news that people receive and on the practice of journalism, Pew Research Center finds.

In surveys last summer, roughly half of U.S. adults said AI will have a very (24%) or somewhat (26%) negative impact on the news that people receive over the next 20 years. Just 10% said AI will have a very (2%) or somewhat (8%) positive effect. 

Some 41% said artificial intelligence will do a worse job of writing a news story than a journalist would, while 19% said AI would do a better job than a journalist. Most Americans, 66%, worry that AI will give people inaccurate information.

A majority, 59%, said AI will lead to fewer journalism jobs over the next two decades. Only 5% said AI will produce more journalism jobs. In a previous Pew survey, experts also thought that AI will reduce the number of journalism jobs and deteriorate the news that people receive. 

Study: Layoff Rumors Rattle Employees, But Communication Helps

As layoff rumors swirl, employees are worried about losing their jobs, new research finds. In a March survey by Perceptyx, an employee-engagement company, 35% of respondents said they were at least moderately worried about being laid off. 

Layoff anxiety is higher among middle managers, with 45% saying they’re at least moderately worried, compared to 26% of nonsupervisory employees, the report finds. Some 72% of middle managers said they were looking for a new job, compared to 52% of nonsupervisory employees.

In the surveys, 54% of respondents said their organization has communicated openly about layoffs. But 53% didn’t understand why layoffs had occurred, suggesting poor communication. 

Among employees who said their organization has communicated openly about layoffs, 61% reported high levels of engagement in their work, three times more than employees whose companies did not communicate openly about layoffs. 

To maintain trust with employees, organizations must provide proactive, honest and empathetic communication, the report said.