Employees in Austria are growing increasingly uneasy about their workplaces. “Sentiment in Austria continues to trend negatively. After life satisfaction plunged by five percentage points last year, the decline persists: only 46 percent of employees now feel satisfied and look to the future with confidence,” reads the result of an international Gallup survey.

Strikingly, willingness to change jobs is low—only 20 percent of respondents—despite weak emotional attachment. “Just nine percent apply their hand, heart and mind at work—one of the lowest rates in Europe,” Gallup adds. Yet 64 percent believe it is a good time to find a new position.

With 46 percent satisfied and optimistic, Austria ranks 20th in Europe. Switzerland saw the steepest drop in life satisfaction this year at 45 percent, on par with Germany. At the top are Finland, Iceland, Denmark and Sweden.

Workers cite rising living costs, waning trust in politics and economic worries, along with dissatisfaction over affordable housing, healthcare quality and corruption, as drivers of low morale. The good news is that Austria’s standard of living remains high and levels of anger, loneliness and sadness stay low.

Gallup analyst Marco Nink warns that weak emotional engagement is costly: productivity losses amount to around €51.7 billion per year—about 11 percent of GDP. The findings come from the Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2025 report, which surveyed 227,347 employees across 149 countries.