That engagement figure sits well below the global average of 20% and the Southeast Asia average of 25%, according to the inaugural Singapore Workplace Report 2026 from the Singapore Institute of Directors and U.S. analytics firm Gallup.
The Singapore data builds on Gallup's broader State of the Global Workplace 2026 report, released in April, which found global engagement at its lowest since 2020. Singapore's number is a three-year rolling average, while the global and regional figures cover a single year.
Speaking at the launch on June 22, Minister of State for Manpower Dinesh Vasu Dash said many organizations still treat their people as a human resources function rather than a strategic one.
"When human capital is treated with the same rigour and discipline as financial capital, organizations make better decisions about their people, and these better decisions then translate directly into better long-term performance," he said, as reported by Channel News Asia.
Engagement has barely moved in Singapore since dipping in 2019. Across the region in 2025, the report put engagement at 9% in Vietnam, 25% in Malaysia, 27% in Indonesia and 34% in Thailand.
