Johns Hopkins Study Says Bosses Are ‘Thriving’ As Employee Morale Suffers
Key Points
- A new study from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School finds manager wellbeing is rising post-pandemic while employee morale has plummeted to a record low.
- The report attributes the decline to businesses cutting pandemic-era support, such as flexible work, while increasing productivity demands.
- This growing wellbeing gap creates significant business risks, fueling higher employee turnover, lower engagement, and rising healthcare costs.
A new study from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School reveals a stark divide in the American workplace: while the wellbeing of managers has risen post-pandemic, their employees’ morale has plummeted to an all-time low, creating significant business risks.
The great clawback: Analyzing data from over 1.3 million people, the study blames the decline on businesses scaling back pandemic-era support systems. As companies push for a “return to normal” by cutting flexible work, workers are feeling the strain from economic pressures and rising productivity demands.
A tale of two workplaces: This creates what study author Rick Smith calls “a growing gap between how leaders and their teams experience the workplace.” The research highlights a dangerous blind spot where managers may feel a return to normalcy, but as Smith noted in an exclusive interview with UNLEASH, that doesn’t mean their employees do. The data also shows the burden is uneven, with younger, female, and minority employees reporting the lowest scores.
This isn’t just a morale problem; it’s a direct hit to business operations. The report connects poor staff health to a bleeding bottom line, showing it fuels everything from higher employee turnover and lower engagement to ballooning healthcare costs.
The Johns Hopkins research is part of a larger conversation about the workplace wellbeing crisis, which the U.S. Surgeon General has flagged as a public health issue. Meanwhile, a related analysis shows that companies that get it right see major benefits, with firms on the Fortune 100 Best Companies list showing significantly higher employee wellbeing scores.
Related articles
TL;DR
- A new study from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School finds manager wellbeing is rising post-pandemic while employee morale has plummeted to a record low.
- The report attributes the decline to businesses cutting pandemic-era support, such as flexible work, while increasing productivity demands.
- This growing wellbeing gap creates significant business risks, fueling higher employee turnover, lower engagement, and rising healthcare costs.
A new study from Johns Hopkins Carey Business School reveals a stark divide in the American workplace: while the wellbeing of managers has risen post-pandemic, their employees’ morale has plummeted to an all-time low, creating significant business risks.
The great clawback: Analyzing data from over 1.3 million people, the study blames the decline on businesses scaling back pandemic-era support systems. As companies push for a “return to normal” by cutting flexible work, workers are feeling the strain from economic pressures and rising productivity demands.
A tale of two workplaces: This creates what study author Rick Smith calls “a growing gap between how leaders and their teams experience the workplace.” The research highlights a dangerous blind spot where managers may feel a return to normalcy, but as Smith noted in an exclusive interview with UNLEASH, that doesn’t mean their employees do. The data also shows the burden is uneven, with younger, female, and minority employees reporting the lowest scores.
This isn’t just a morale problem; it’s a direct hit to business operations. The report connects poor staff health to a bleeding bottom line, showing it fuels everything from higher employee turnover and lower engagement to ballooning healthcare costs.
The Johns Hopkins research is part of a larger conversation about the workplace wellbeing crisis, which the U.S. Surgeon General has flagged as a public health issue. Meanwhile, a related analysis shows that companies that get it right see major benefits, with firms on the Fortune 100 Best Companies list showing significantly higher employee wellbeing scores.