Kahoot! warns leadership burnout crisis undermining global workforce
OSLO, NORWAY — A global crisis of leadership burnout is eroding workplace engagement and stability, according to Kahoot!’s 2025 Workplace Engagement Report.
The study, based on responses from more than 200 HR and training managers across the United States and the United Kingdom, found that only 47% of leaders feel fully engaged. More than one in four have considered quitting—signaling a systemic threat to productivity and organizational cohesion.
“Engagement is an issue on all fronts, not just for employees in junior roles,” said Eilert Hanoa, CEO of Kahoot!, as quoted by HR News.
Leadership crisis drives systemic engagement failure
Perception masks this internal crisis, with almost three-quarters, 79% of these leaders believing that their teams continue to view them as energized, indicating a significant disconnection between their internal state and public persona.
This leadership disengagement has a direct and measurable impact on the entire workforce, a trend confirmed by broader global data. The 2025 State of the Global Workplace report by Gallup reveals that the engagement of global managers has declined to a dismal 27%.
The impact of burnout at the top is tremendous because leaders have the responsibility to influence up to 70% of their team’s engagement, resulting in a domino effect that can impair the organization’s overall health.
Lack of training and tools undermines leaders
A primary driver of this leadership failure is a widespread lack of preparation and support. Kahoot! study reveals a big training gap, as 57% of leaders have never had extensive training on how to re-engage teams.
The scarcity of useful tools exacerbates this lack of resources; only 17% of leaders report that their company fails to supply the necessary tools to keep teams motivated.
The challenges of the contemporary working environment exacerbate this skills gap. Nearly in every quarter, 23% of leaders also admit that they do not know how to lead hybrid or remote teams.
This struggle is directly reflected in the top reasons for burnout among managers, with 48% blaming the problem of engagement and having numerous other obligations, and 48% claiming that it is exhausting to contend with employee apathy.
Recognition and connection are key to engagement
Hanoa notes, “If companies don’t begin to tackle disengagement, they risk losing both their leaders and their future workforce. Recognition, communication, and training are the missing links that will decide who wins the engagement race.”
And when asked what would most improve engagement, leaders pointed to qualitative factors over material rewards. An overwhelming 69% of leaders identified recognition and incentives as the primary solution, followed by a desire for more team connection at 57%.
On a personal level, 58% of leaders reported that they would be more engaged if they had more energy, creativity, or enjoyment in their day-to-day work.
The call for better communication and validation from the top is a consistent and powerful theme throughout the findings. In open-ended responses, many leaders stated that the one change they would make is to ensure better communication and recognition from senior leadership.
This sentiment is quantified by the 42% of leaders who said they would be more engaged with open feedback from senior executives.
To avert a total organizational problem, companies must urgently address the disengagement crisis at the leadership level, whose burnout and lack of support are creating a destructive domino effect of apathy throughout the entire workforce.
