Most workers say they are satisfied with their jobs, yet many still report feeling detached from them. New survey data points to why.
Jake Spiegel
Senior Research Associate, Employee Benefit Research Institute
Burnout, disengagement, and quiet quitting are different labels for the same malaise many workers feel. Is this malaise simply a workplace culture problem, or does it reflect broader pressures workers are facing across their financial, physical, emotional, and workplace well-being?
Findings from various Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) surveys, including the 2025 EBRI/Greenwald Research Workplace Wellness Survey, suggest the answer is more complicated than job satisfaction alone. Fifty-six percent of workers reported being very or extremely satisfied with their current job, while only 13% expressed dissatisfaction. At the same time, however, workers reported signs of detachment and burnout. Sixty-one percent said they always or often do not care about their job, 56% said they have performed at a lower level than they are capable of, and 44% said they rarely or never feel valued for their contributions at work.
Workers may be satisfied enough to remain in a job while still feeling disconnected from their work, their employer, or the conditions that allow them to perform at their best. Engagement is not just a function of whether employees like their jobs. It is also connected to their workplace well-being and whether they feel supported, secure, and valued. Fortunately, the survey points to several areas where employers may have an opportunity to strengthen engagement. Work-life balance was the most frequently cited contributor to workplace well-being (53%), followed by doing meaningful work (42%).
Where financial stress fits in
Financial well-being is central to this picture. Workers continue to cite inflation, healthcare costs, and health insurance costs as top concerns. Seven in ten agreed that thinking about their financial future makes them feel stressed, and 2 in 3 said their lack of emergency savings stresses them.
These pressures do not stay at home. They can affect focus, morale, and productivity, with evidence from EBRI’s Retirement Confidence Survey suggesting that most workers agree they would be more productive at work if they were not worried about their finances.
What employers are seeing
Employers recognize this connection. EBRI’s 2025 Financial Wellbeing Employer Survey found that firms continue to focus on employees’ day-to-day financial challenges, including financial stress, budgeting and money management, retirement preparedness, high costs of living, and healthcare costs.
Still, employers face implementation challenges. Benefits decision-makers cited employee access to services, integrating standalone benefits into a holistic financial wellness program, costs, data privacy concerns, and complexity in choosing and implementing financial wellness benefits as key obstacles.
Turning agreement into action
Rebuilding engagement is unlikely to come from a single program, perk, or communications campaign. Different employers have different worker populations with different needs. Employers will need to examine how benefits, compensation, flexibility, paid time off, health coverage, retirement savings, and emergency savings work together.
Encouragingly, a vast majority of employers view themselves as having a responsibility to ensure workers are mentally, emotionally, and financially well, and a vast majority of workers agree that their company has this responsibility. Workers and employers are on the same page about the role of the employer in fostering well-being. The challenge now is execution: translating that shared understanding into benefits, policies, and workplace practices that address the pressures workers are facing and help them feel more secure, supported, productive, and valued.
