Workplace trends and original research

EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE INSIGHTS

Top workplace trends

Our latest research uncovers 75+ key statistics on how people are working—and how to help your team get ahead.

The modern workplace is evolving rapidly. Our 2025 workplace culture and trends study reveals the shifts shaping our professional lives, from work-life balance to the rise of AI and shifting career ambitions. Explore these insights to support your team, boost engagement, and build a more resilient workforce.

Work culture and productivity

Work-life imbalance

63% of individual contributors and 74% of senior leaders think work-life balance must be sacrificed to have a successful career

More than half of workers (55%) say working long hours and being “always-on” is the norm at their company.

35% of workers have taken a work call while on vacation
74% of workers have worked while sick within the last year

Can’t escape the pings

34% of workers think that ignoring after-hours messages will hurt how they are seen at work

An overwhelming 85% of workers receive work emails, messages, or calls after hours. Among them, 36% receive after-hours comms at least once a day.

58% of Gen Z workers reply to after-hours messages immediately vs. 40% of Gen X
15% of workers aiming for leadership roles feel after-hours pings are annoying vs. 24% of those not going for a top job

“Busy” is in the eye of the beholder

Senior leaders are almost 4x more likely to regularly pretend to be busy than individual contributors

Most workers (69%) feel productive throughout the average workday, but 40% admit they’ve pretended to be busy while actually doing something else.

Gen Z workers are 2x more likely to regularly pretend to be busy at work than Gen X.

Manager’s playbook: Avoid employee burnout

Track work-life balance

Gauge workloads and employee happiness with work-life balance surveys.

Make meetings matter

Send meeting feedback surveys to make syncs more worthwhile.

Catch sentiment shifts

Use pulse surveys to quickly find out how your team feels.

Conduct stay interviews

Dig into satisfaction and commitment by learning why employees stay.

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Is the corporate ladder broken?

Job advancement feels iffy

48% of experienced individual contributors feel they lack growth opportunities

Most workers (78%) think staying with one company for a long period is the best way to advance their career.

However, nearly half (43%) say there are few or no opportunities for growth at their current job.

39% of workers are actively pursuing growth or change in their career path
18% of workers feel stuck or are unsure of what’s next for their careers

Quiet ambition vs. reaching the top

Only 58% of individual contributors are interested in top positions, compared with 76% of managers and above

Two in three workers (64%) are aiming for top leadership positions (executive, C-Suite, owner) sometime in their career.

Gen Z workers are especially ambitious, with 80% saying they want to reach top levels. Just 57% of Gen X and 70% of Millennials say the same—which could suggest a quieter ambition focused more on meaningful growth than exec dreams.

Men are more likely to say they’re hoping to reach a top leadership position than women (68% vs. 58%).

Enter the side hustle

72% of works have a side hustle or considering one

A full 70% of workers believe people should always look for income sources beyond their main job. Freelancing holds appeal for 31%, and 42% are drawn to being a business owner.

The top reasons workers are taking on or eyeing side hustles include:

48% want to save for a specific goal
44% need extra income to survive
37% want to build new skills or chase a passion

Money matters: Most workers (88%) are waiting to reach a certain income level before pursuing major life milestones.

Promotion playbook: Gen Z edition

Most workers (70%) believe that job promotions require going above and beyond. But Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to think that doing a good job should be enough.

This mindset may be holding them back: only 28% of Gen Z workers are satisfied with their current career path.

Older workers seem to have a passion-first approach: 54% of Boomers strongly believe that loving your job is key to success, 10 points higher than younger generations.

4 strategies to support career development

Clarify career paths
Heads up
Ambition is out there, with nearly two-thirds of workers aiming for top leadership positions sometime in their career. But for many, that goal seems out of reach.
Get ahead
Use pulse surveys to pinpoint career roadblocks. Segment responses by department or tenure to identify who feels stuck and why. Be transparent about employee performance expectations and consider quarterly reviews based on growth, impact, and goals. Don’t forget to collect ongoing feedback as you pilot new promotion processes.
Don’t overlook compensation
Heads up
Financial security is a major career driver. If employees don’t feel supported, they may seek side gigs or look elsewhere—hurting your org’s long-term growth and retention.
Get ahead
Run regular employee compensation surveys to see if your team feels pay and benefits are fair and competitive. Use employee benefits insights to adjust compensation strategies before top talent looks to other job opportunities or extra income streams.
Motivate teams
Heads up
Workers say that opportunities to improve skills (47%), financial security (47%), and inspirational colleagues (42%) are the top reasons they’re motivated to do their best.
Get ahead
Employees can’t advance if they’re not motivated. Use employee engagement surveys and motivation surveys to gauge how they feel about their job and growth potential. Gather professional development insights to see what skills they want to build—then back them with resources that keep energy and ambition high.
Stay in touch with younger workers
Heads up
Younger employees are redefining career paths with different expectations for growth, flexibility, and success. To keep up, companies need visibility into these shifts.
Get ahead
Slice responses from your employee performance surveys, engagement surveys, and pulse surveys by age or tenure. With frequent feedback, you can understand what younger employees actually want so you can keep them growing with you.

“With our employee engagement survey, the lightbulb really went on for us. Those results gave us data to develop a retention strategy and improve experiences. And employees are very appreciative that we’re asking for their candid feedback.”

Jean Gonzales, Vice president of human resource, YES Communities

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Middle managers, maximum pressure

Trust issues: managers caught in the middle

32% of individual contributors believe senior leadership would appreciate being asked about company strategy and finances and share everything they could vs 47% of managers and above

Middle managers (supervisors, managers, or team leads) sit in a tricky middle ground when it comes to transparency.

Just 42% of individual contributors believe their direct managers would welcome questions about company strategy and finances and answer honestly, compared with 52% of middle managers and 60% of senior leaders and above.

Different levels, different burnout

39% individual contributors, 35% middle managers, and 52% senior leadership strongly believe that their current job allows them to maintain a healthy work-life balance

Low motivation is a bigger productivity problem for individual contributors than senior leaders (33% vs. 20%), along with unclear priorities (31% vs. 19%). Middle managers fall in between.

However, the burden of constant task switching weighs more heavily on middle managers (39%) than senior leaders (31%).

Leaders are quietly relying on AI

14% of individual contributors, 21% of middle managers, and 43% of senior leadership have used generative AI for work without telling their manager

One in five workers have used generative AI on the job without telling their manager, and 15% have kept it from customers, too.

But senior leaders are more likely to be using AI under the radar, which could signal that they feel more confident navigating it solo—or just don’t feel the need to check with their boss.

Middle manager’s survival guide

Build trust and transparency
Heads up
Senior leaders are more likely to think openness about company finances and strategy is standard. But many employees don’t see it that way.
Get ahead
Pulse surveys can reveal if your team wants more clarity on top-level thinking. Share what you learn, explain next steps, and keep surveys anonymous to encourage honest feedback. Check in with your team quarterly to see if communications and operational practices are working to keep building trust.
Catch burnout warning signs
Heads up
Burnout or low motivation doesn’t look the same for everyone. After-hours pings that might wear on one worker might be no big deal for another.
Get ahead
To prevent burnout and support your team, find out what keeps people going—whether it’s helping customers, hitting big sales goals, or being able to log off for family time. Use employee surveys to understand motivation and separate “busywork” from real productivity.
Get smart about AI
Stay in touch with younger workers

Fast facts, workplace buzzwords

Hands typing on a laptop and holding a phone

Quiet hiring

71% of business pros² feel like they’re juggling the work of multiple people.

Digital nomad

Managers and above are 2x as likely to say they’ve worked from a beach, vacation, or other non-standard work setup.

Always-on culture

19% of workers have taken a work call from the bathroom.

Corporate lingo

Workers think “boil the ocean” is the most meaningless corporate phrase.

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Methodology
The SurveyMonkey “2025 Workplace Culture and Trends” study was conducted between July 25 to August 3, 2025 among a sample of 3,573 full time workers in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States. For more insights from this study, see our “2025 Workplace Culture and Trends” study crosstabs.

²The SurveyMonkey “Business Trends” study was conducted March 25-31, 2025 among a sample of 2,912 business professionals and business leaders in marketing, customer experience, human resources, and other roles involving surveys or feedback. A supplemental survey was conducted at the same time among 2,481 US adults. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on our platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.