U.S. employee engagement has fallen to its lowest level in 15 years, according to new data from Gallup, and an additional report now does a deep dive into why many workers are finding the bare minimum to be enough.
Following an assessment of third-quarter workplace trends, Gallup reported that only 29% of American workers feel engaged at work, marking the first time that figure has dropped below 30% since 2011.
“The Q3 findings add to concerns about how well organizations communicate expectations and maintain employee connections across different work arrangements,” Gallup stated in its report.
While Gallup’s data highlights a widening psychological disconnect between companies and their staff — with actively disengaged workers climbing to 18% and another 53% classified as simply not engaged — new research from career site MyPerfectResume offers additional sharp insight into why employees are tapping the brakes.
According to MyPerfectResume’s “Act Your Wage” report, which surveyed 1,000 U.S. workers, enthusiasm isn’t just fading on its own. Instead, employees are deliberately recalibrating their output in response to stagnant pay and expanding workloads.
“When workers believe their pay no longer reflects what their job demands, many reconsider how much effort they’re willing to give,” MyPerfectResume career expert Jasmine Escalera noted in the study.
The firm found that 78% of workers have intentionally done only the minimum required to keep their job, including 49% who admit to taking that approach frequently or occasionally.
Rather than viewing it as slacking off, a 53% majority of workers frame the behavior as a practical response to workplace pressures, including wage stagnation (21%), setting healthy boundaries (18%), and protecting against burnout (14%).
Pay mismatches drive minimum-effort habits
For a substantial share of the workforce, pulling back is directly tied to compensation. MyPerfectResume found that 69% of respondents have intentionally limited their effort because their pay did not match their role’s expectations or responsibilities.
At the same time, workers are skeptical that going the extra mile actually pays off. A staggering 92% of employees say workers are not consistently rewarded fairly for going above and beyond, with 52% stating that extra effort is rarely or almost never rewarded fairly.
“Workers may also be evaluating whether recognition is consistent, meaningful, and proportionate to the additional effort being requested,” Escalera wrote.
When asked why they stop exceeding job requirements, workers tied feeling underpaid (22%) and experiencing burnout (22%) as the top drivers, followed closely by a lack of recognition (19%) and seeing hard work go unrewarded (17%).
Combined, 58% pointed to inadequate pay or recognition as the primary catalyst for dialing back their performance.
Employers should take note of new research explaining why nearly eight in 10 American workers have stopped overperforming and chosen to do the bare minimum.Morsa Images / Getty Images
Scope creep pushes workers to set boundaries
The pullback also coincides with widespread “scope creep” across corporate America. According to the MyPerfectResume survey, 86% of workers have been asked to take on responsibilities outside their formal job description without receiving additional compensation.
Nearly three-quarters (73%) spend at least some time each week handling tasks beyond their official duties, and 44% spend at least two hours per week on outside work. For the 16% of employees logging six or more extra hours weekly, that uncompensated labor totals more than 300 hours over the course of a year.
“The situation can become more difficult when temporary requests turn into permanent responsibilities without changes to an employee’s title, workload, compensation, or priorities,” Escalera noted. “Employees may then feel that performing unpaid work outside their job description simply resets what their employer considers the minimum.”
As a result, 83% of workers have altered their workplace behavior or considered leaving their jobs because they felt underpaid or overworked. Roughly 31% became less emotionally invested in their roles, 30% stopped volunteering for extra assignments, 28% avoided unpaid overtime, and 28% considered quitting altogether.
How workers can protect their careers
Even so, experts warn that quietly coasting without addressing the root cause can carry risks, especially when extra duties eat into the core tasks used to evaluate an employee’s performance.
To protect their careers while resetting expectations, MyPerfectResume advises workers to treat shifting workloads as a formal business discussion with their managers rather than simply disengaging.
Employees can prepare for that conversation by documenting every responsibility added since they were hired, tracking the weekly hours spent on duties outside their original job description, and recording measurable results tied to that extra work. From there, workers can ask managers to clarify which assignments take priority when workloads conflict and request a formal review of their title, job description, or compensation.
Escalera suggests establishing firm boundaries around unpaid overtime and after-hours availability — or exploring external job opportunities where effort and compensation are better aligned.
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