Gen Z and manager disengagement pose dual challenge for UK workplaces
Workplace Engagement Report finds Gen Z hardest to engage, while managers face burnout and disengagement.
Kahoot!’s 2025 report finds 62% of UK managers say Gen Z is hardest to engage, while over half of managers report burnout and a third have considered quitting.
A new workplace engagement report from Kahoot! has found that managers in the UK are struggling to motivate their youngest employees, with Gen Z singled out as the hardest group to engage. At the same time, managers themselves are showing signs of serious disengagement, creating a dual challenge for businesses and their learning and development teams.
The Kahoot! 2025 Workplace Engagement Report reveals that 62% of HR managers say Gen Z employees, aged 16–24, are the most difficult generation to reach. With around 4.3 million Gen Z workers already in the UK workforce, this trend has implications for long-term productivity and retention.
But the report also points to a deeper structural issue: managers, who are expected to lead engagement efforts, are struggling with their own motivation. More than half (53%) report feeling burned out, and 35% say they have considered leaving their jobs due to disengagement. These findings mirror a Gallup 2025 report, the State of the Global Workforce, showing historic lows in manager engagement.
For learning and development teams, the findings raise important questions about how to support both managers and younger employees. Engagement initiatives cannot succeed if those responsible for delivering them lack the skills, energy or tools to motivate their teams. Kahoot!’s data highlights a shortfall in both training and measurement: a third of managers say they have not received enough training on how to re-engage staff, while only 14% report that their organisations consistently provide effective engagement tools.
The difficulty in proving return on investment also remains a barrier. Almost a quarter of managers say they struggle to track engagement or prove ROI, and many would prefer to measure productivity more effectively rather than focus on working hours. This indicates a growing need for L&D functions to support managers not only with practical engagement skills but also with the ability to measure and demonstrate the impact of their interventions.
When asked what would most improve engagement, managers identified recognition, better communication and more opportunities for team connection. These findings underline a clear role for L&D: helping organisations build recognition into daily practices, designing leadership development that prioritises communication, and creating learning experiences that foster collaboration across generational divides.
Eilert Hanoa, CEO of Kahoot!, said: ‘Leaders are burning out and becoming unable to motivate their younger colleagues, who in turn are switching off. If companies don’t begin to tackle disengagement, they risk losing both their leaders and their future workforce.’
The Kahoot! survey was conducted in August 2025 with 221 HR and training professionals across the US and UK, including 106 UK respondents.