Global employee engagement has dropped to 20 percent, leaving lab managers to contend with a workforce that is increasingly detached. According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report, this disengagement is not a singular state but a spectrum that includes those who are quietly quitting and those who are loudly quitting. For laboratory professionals, distinguishing between these categories is essential for maintaining business-unit productivity and preventing the erosion of macro-level benefits provided by new technologies.

Gallup defines those who are not engaged as quiet quitters. These individuals are psychologically unattached to their work and company; they put in time but lack energy or passion. Actively disengaged employees are categorized as loudly quitting—they are resentful that their needs are not being met and may actively undermine their colleagues' accomplishments.

Identifying engagement drivers to stop quiet quitting

To move a team toward high engagement, lab managers must aim for a higher bar than mere job satisfaction. Engaged employees act as psychological owners, driving innovation and moving the organization forward. To measure this, Gallup uses the proprietary Q¹² framework, a set of 12 items that directly relate to performance outcomes.

The Q¹² framework allows a manager to diagnose specific areas where the employee experience may be failing:

• Basic needs: Do staff members know what is expected of them, and do they have the materials and equipment to do their work right?
• Individual contribution: Do employees have the opportunity to do what they do best every day, and have they received recognition for good work in the last seven days?
• Management support: Does the direct supervisor care about them as a person and encourage their development?
• Teamwork and growth: Do their opinions count, and are their coworkers committed to quality work?

Addressing these items is critical because low engagement cost the global economy approximately $10 trillion in lost productivity last year, which is roughly nine percent of global GDP.

Boosting laboratory output through psychological ownership

A lab manager can use the Q¹² items as a diagnostic tool during performance reviews or team meetings to identify why a technician might be slipping into a quiet quitting mindset. The report indicates that when employees feel they have choices in their work and that their mission is important, they are more likely to thrive.

Those categorized as thriving rate their current life at a seven or higher and their future life at an eight or higher on a zero-to-10 scale. They report significantly fewer health problems and less daily stress, worry, and anger than those who are struggling or suffering.

By focusing on the "human side of the AI revolution" and ensuring that the 12 engagement elements are met, laboratory leaders can transition their staff from being psychologically unattached to being highly involved and enthusiastic. This proactive management is the strongest predictor of organizational resilience in an era of rapid technological disruption.

This article was created with the assistance of Generative AI and has undergone editorial review before publishing.