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- 2025 Employee Experience Trends Report | Qualtrics (2024)
2025 Employee Experience Trends Report | Qualtrics (2024)
This comprehensive report examines vital trends shaping employee experience in 2025, including the importance of reducing workplace chaos, generational differences in engagement, critical moments in the employee lifecycle, building trust, and the impact of AI adoption on employee experiences.
Tanguy Dulac
November 10, 2024
PEOPLE EXPERIENCE & ENGAGEMENT
Qualtrics | 2025 Employee Experience Trends Report | This comprehensive report examines vital trends shaping employee experience in 2025, including the importance of reducing workplace chaos, generational differences in engagement, critical moments in the employee lifecycle, building trust, and the impact of AI adoption on employee experiences.
DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that employees who spend time learning on the job are 47% less likely to be stressed, 39% more likely to feel productive and successful, and 21% more likely to feel confident and happy?
DID YOU SEE?
Figure: The Impact of Productivity Pressure on Key Indicators
NEED AN EXECUTIVE SUMMARY?
✨ OVERVIEW
The Qualtrics 2025 Employee Experience Trends Report highlights five major trends shaping people experience and engagement:
1️⃣ The importance of reducing workplace chaos to boost engagement
2️⃣ Surprising optimism among young employees
3️⃣ Critical impact of entry and exit experiences
4️⃣ The cost of prioritising short-term gains over long-term trust
5️⃣ Rapid employee adoption of AI tools
These trends underscore the need for organisations to focus on creating supportive work environments, nurturing young talent, improving critical touch-points in the employee lifecycle, building trust through leadership actions, and strategically integrating AI to enhance productivity and employee experiences.
🧩 CONTEXT
In 2025, organisations grapple with rapid change, economic pressures, and evolving employee expectations. There must be more than traditional work and employee management approaches to meet these challenges. Employees adapt to increasingly demanding and chaotic business environments, while organisations focus on issues like returning to the office, raising productivity, and implementing AI. This context has created a need for organisations to re-evaluate their priorities and strategies for managing employee experiences, particularly in areas such as trust-building, supporting employees through change, and leveraging new technologies like AI to improve engagement.
🔍 WHY IT MATTERS
➡️ Reducing workplace chaos is crucial for employee engagement and productivity—Employees are feeling pressure to increase productivity due to the pace of change (38%), strategic efforts (36%), and economic conditions (34%). Organisations that fail to support employees through change risk creating cultures that make it needlessly difficult for employees to do their jobs effectively, leading to disengagement.
➡️ Young employees represent a significant opportunity for engagement—Despite popular critiques, employees under 25 are the most engaged and optimistic of all employee groups. They have higher experience scores, with 82% believing in their organisation's values compared to 76% of other age groups.
➡️ Entry and exit experiences significantly impact employer brand and engagement—Poor candidate and exit experiences fail to meet employee expectations, with only 15% of employees reporting that their candidate journey exceeded expectations. These experiences shape an organisation's relationship with potential employees and customers, affecting overall engagement.
➡️ Trust in leadership is foundational to employee engagement—There's a clear correlation between trust and employee experience outcomes, with trust strongly linked to engagement (r=0.71), inclusion (r=0.69), and well-being (r=0.65). However, only 56% of employees feel their leaders will act benevolently, indicating a need for improvement.
➡️ AI adoption is outpacing organisational readiness—45% of employees use AI tools daily or weekly, often sourcing them themselves. This rapid adoption presents opportunities and challenges for organisations regarding productivity, security, and ethical considerations related to employee experiences.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS
➡️ Reducing workplace complexity drives engagement—The top drivers of employee engagement include the organisation's ability to adapt to changing customer needs and continually improve work processes. However, a culture of continuous improvement was one of the lower-rated items in the study, indicating room for improvement.
➡️ Young employees are surprisingly optimistic—Employees aged 18-24 are more actively engaged, future-focused, and have higher experience scores than other age groups. For example, 82% believe in their organisation's values compared to 76% of different age groups.
➡️ First and last impressions matter significantly. Many employees' candidate journeys and exit experiences are below expectations, with 43% reporting their exit experience below expectations. These experiences shape an organisation's relationship with potential employees and customers.
➡️ Trust in leadership is multifaceted—While employees are somewhat optimistic about their leaders' competence (68%) and integrity (67%), they're much less likely to believe leaders will act with benevolence (56%). Trust levels vary significantly across industries, roles, and age groups.
➡️ AI adoption is employee-driven—45% of employees already use AI tools at work, with 30% sourcing them themselves. The most common uses include analysing data (41%), online search (40%), and data entry (32%), all of which can potentially enhance employee experiences and engagement.
🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS
➡️ Focus on reducing unnecessary complexity—Prioritise efforts to continually improve work processes and support employees through change. This includes enhancing processes, removing red tape, and empowering employees with the right tools to improve their overall experience.
➡️ Invest in young employees' growth and development—Create pathways for young employees to provide suggestions for continuous improvement. Consider new development opportunities or internal mobility programmes that allow early-career employees to cultivate essential skills and stay engaged.
➡️ Improve entry and exit experiences—Focus on creating positive first and last impressions throughout the employee lifecycle. Use tools to identify the moments that matter, understand the drivers of these experiences, and take action to improve them.
➡️ Build trust through observable behaviours and systems—Demonstrate that people are the priority by actively seeking and acting on feedback from diverse employees. Equip leaders with accessible, actionable intelligence to make smarter decisions that build trust and enhance employee experiences.
➡️ Develop a strategic plan for AI integration—Create a comprehensive strategy for AI adoption that addresses productivity, security, and ethical considerations. Provide guidance and support for employees using AI tools to ensure they are used effectively and responsibly to enhance their work experience.
🔗 CONCLUSION
The 2025 Employee Experience Trends Report highlights the complex and evolving nature of the modern workplace. Successful organisations will be those that can effectively reduce workplace chaos, nurture young talent, create positive experiences throughout the employee lifecycle, build trust through leadership actions, and strategically integrate AI. By focusing on these critical areas, organisations can create more engaging, productive, and resilient work environments that meet the needs of employees and the business in an increasingly dynamic landscape.
🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY
To thrive in 2025, organisations must prioritise creating supportive, trust-based work environments that empower employees to adapt to change, leverage new technologies, and contribute their best work throughout their entire journey with the company. This will ultimately lead to higher engagement and better experiences for people.