Long Island employers face worker engagement gap post-COVID

Employers on Long Island and around the country are struggling to improve employee engagement as workers' expectations about issues like mental health, workplace recognition and work-life balance have shifted in recent years. 

“Declining engagement has been a noticeable trend, particularly for younger workers and particularly post-COVID,” said John W. Coverdale, a professor of organizational behavior at Stony Brook University’s College of Business. 

For Long Island employers who must compete for skilled talent with New York City firms, employee engagement — which has been on the decline in recent years according to a new Gallup analysis — is one major way to hold on to top talent.

Conversely, lower employee engagement can hurt organizations.

“It has a direct impact on your ability to recruit and, more importantly, your ability to manage performance in your organization,” Coverdale said.

Growing engagement gap

Jim Morris, owner of the Farmingdale Express Employment Professionals, a franchised staffing firm, said he sees differences in attitudes toward work between younger and older workers at his business.

Among those differences, Morris said, is the importance younger workers place on work-life balance and their willingness to set boundaries with their managers.

He said his younger workers are effectively saying, "‘I’m not answering emails at 10 at night and don’t expect me to work through my lunch hour and breaks.’”

Despite this "difference in mentality" Morris sees among younger workers, he said he's satisfied with their performance.

In the broadest sense, employee engagement refers to how committed and connected to an organization its employees are. 

Nationwide, employee engagement has steadily declined since the pandemic after years of slow growth, said Jim Harter, chief scientist for workplace management and well-being at national survey platform Gallup. 

“We saw rising employment engagement for a decade,” said Harter, who published an analysis Tuesday on workplace engagement that showed declines in the average number of hours full-time employees worked per week. But those increases, driven in part by rising interest in improving workplace mental health, have been reversed following the pandemic, he said.

“The decline has been particularly salient for younger workers,” he said. “They tend to feel less clear on expectations, they feel less cared about and less connected to the mission.”

In 2020, an estimated 36% of American workers felt engaged on the job, up from 28% in 2010, according to Gallup. Since then, employees who felt engaged fell to 31% last year. Declining engagement, combined with a shift in work-life priorities and employee burnout, are likely drivers behind a reduction in the hours full-time U.S. employees are working, according to Harter.

In 2019, U.S. workers worked an average of 44.1 hours a week. In 2024, Americans worked an average of 42.9 hours per week, according to new Gallup data.

During that five-year period, older workers — defined as those age 35 or older — saw an average decrease in weekly hours of just under one hour per person per week, whereas workers under 35 reduced weekly hours by almost two hours, the analysis found.

Harter added that while the drop in hours has been across the board, outlier organizations with high levels of employee engagement didn't see significant drops in hours worked.

“The drop doesn’t have to be there, but it’s occurred because employers have been less effective at connecting with their workforce,” he said. “So, people feel less attached.”

Harter said workers – especially younger workers — typically want clear expectations for their job, recognition for their contributions, clear communication from management, to have their voices heard in the workplace, and to see a path to advancement.

“It has to start with management, but that doesn’t mean the younger workers don’t have some responsibility,” he said. 

Mental health and burnout

During the Great Resignation, a period from around 2021 to 2022, many workers retired early, changed career paths or changed their perspectives on work-life balance.

Annmarie Wacha-Montes, clinical director for Northwell Health’s Center for Traumatic Stress, Resilience and Recovery in Glen Oaks, said the pandemic “crystallized the relationship between work and mental health.”

As a result, workers are more likely to prioritize needs beyond salary, said Wacha-Montes, who speaks to local employers about workplace stress and mental health.

By not taking employee mental health and stress into account, employers risk burnout among employees, which can lead to performance issues on the job. But it can also lead employees to “cope with unhealthy mechanisms” like drugs or alcohol, she said.

According to Gallup, workers who report burnout are also 32% less likely to feel responsible for the quality of service or products their employer provides, and 74% more likely to be looking for another job.

To prevent issues of disengagement, Liz Uzzo, chief human resources officer for Melville-based H2M architects + engineers, said it’s important her firm keeps communication open between managers and employees.

“I can tell by the look on their face what is going on," Uzzo said. "A lot of times, it’s a combination of things and they just need someone to talk to."

Over the years, Uzzo said, the company has made investments in worker engagement, like its ongoing mentoring program, offering education opportunities for career advancement, regular recognition of employee contributions, and flexibility in work hours.

“Our culture is one of: if you have a problem, you can talk to somebody," she said.