Why Engagement Matters Now More Than Ever

In an especially good 12/27/25 Wall Street Journal piece (“Companies Are Outlining Plans for 2026. Hiring Isn’t One of Them”), Chip Cutter notes that US business hiring has predictably slowed to a crawl on the cusp of full-blown AI launch, and anticipated corollary job reductions. As a result, many who might otherwise have entertained a job change, or executed their retirement, have taken a pause and stayed put for the time being. Job hugging, they’re calling it, because everything, I guess, has to have a name.

That’s rational and understandable. But what’s also understandable is the fact that many of those people who’ve slowed their roll have, to a degree, already unplugged, and are simply marking time, less productively. In effect they’ve quit, but keep showing up, and getting paid. As the job market becomes ever more spotty in certain fields, this could persist for some time.

We’ve noticed some of the byproduct of this in recent employee engagement surveys, where scores are trending downward, more than might otherwise be expected. (Stay tuned.)

Based on this trend, we’ve three pieces of advice for organizational leaders in the foreseeable future:

1. If your organization is at all labor-intensive, pay a little closer attention to workforce engagement levels. Be especially attuned (and responsive) to the “little things” like tardiness/absence patterns, the workspace ‘smile factor’, quality/productivity metrics, and yes, engagement survey scores.
2. Do not, repeat, do NOT reflexively shutter all recruiting measures, as some of the anticipated AI-related staffing cuts will go too far, or engender unexpected voluntary quits. Moreover, this could be an opportunity to pick up some especially good talent, so keep your lure in the water, as a wise fisherperson might say.
3. Embrace your fellow leaders a little more tightly for the next while, as we’re going to go through some things we’re not especially accustomed to, and will need all the “friendlies” we’ve got.

Together, we’ll get through this.