What changed
UK workers are showing less enthusiasm for going beyond the formal demands of their jobs. A Resolution Foundation survey of 4,656 adults found that the share willing to go the extra mile fell from 69% in 2015 to 55% in 2025, while one in four respondents was not fairly satisfied with their role.
Interest in work also slipped: 63% now describe their job as interesting, down from 74% a decade ago. The analysis says those findings are consistent with “quiet quitting”, but does not prove that it caused the UK’s productivity slowdown.
Why it matters
This is more than a workplace mood. If employees are less engaged, employers may find it harder to get extra effort, retain useful knowledge and persuade people to take on more responsibility. That could weigh on productivity and labour supply, both of which matter for improving living standards.
The sharper point is that workers appear to be judging jobs more heavily by what they pay and how they fit around life. That is understandable after a decade of flatlining living standards, but it leaves employers with a practical problem: asking for commitment without offering better pay or flexibility is becoming a weaker bargain.
The analysis does not quantify how much output has been lost, or show that reduced engagement caused the productivity decline. But the direction of the survey results is difficult to dismiss. A workforce that finds its jobs less interesting and feels less willing to give extra effort is unlikely to become more productive by encouragement alone.
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