Afraid to make adjustments? Qualtrics study finds employees thrive with change

New research from Provo-based Qualtrics finds that employees who experienced significant organizational change over the past year report higher engagement and productivity than those with little to no change. The findings in the Qualtrics “2026 Employee Experience Trends Report” challenge conventional wisdom about change fatigue. 

“With the vast majority of employees reporting change in 2025 and more change expected this year, leaders must support employees through it to ensure employees stay productive and engaged,” study authors concluded.

This support is the top driver of employee expectations, and organizations that lead successfully through change will be rewarded with greater motivation and loyalty, according to the study. Employees need to feel heard the most during times of change, making employee listening — already an important element — increase in value in these moments. Organizations that increased listening frequency saw employee experience metrics up to four times higher than those that listened less.

“Contrary to popular belief, the constant change and uncertainty workers have experienced has hardened them and those experiencing more change today are generally more engaged,” said Benjamin Granger, chief workplace psychologist at Qualtrics. “There’s a ‘Goldilocks zone’ for the right amount of change to keep employees engaged. Too much can leave them burned out, and too little, bored and stagnant. In the face of more change to come, the organizations that come out ahead are the ones that build strong connections between employees and the mission and support them throughout with the right tools and processes.”

Employee resilience to change is one of the headline findings from the annual Qualtrics study, based on 33,831 responses across 24 countries and 30 industries.

Additional findings in the report include:

• Introducing new technology like AI correlates with a 10-point increase in employee engagement, while layoffs are associated with a seven-point decrease.

• Half of employees are using AI frequently at work, but just 20 percent are only using company-provided tools.

• Customer-facing employees and part-time workers report a worsening employee experience.

• The honeymoon phase for new joiners is now downright bitter, with this group reporting the lowest level of engagement since 2021.

• Frontline workers have a better sense of customer experience problems than leaders, identifying the same causes flagged by consumers.

• Twenty-five percent of workers say their employer is listening more, and 42 percent want their company to listen more frequently.

• Employee engagement and how well the organization exceeded expectations fell slightly from last year, while intent to stay, inclusion and well-being held steady.

The study also found that for change to drive engagement, it needs to be the right kind. The majority (72 percent) of employees experienced significant organizational change over the past 12 months. But the type of change matters considerably in how employees respond. Changes tied to investment, new ways of working and building for success correlated with high engagement, such as new technologies like AI, new and updated work policies and strategic shifts. Disruptive changes such as layoffs, reorganizations and leadership turnover had the opposite effect.

“Employees can tell the difference between changes that build toward something and equip them for the future and changes that feel like cuts that don’t benefit them,” said Granger. “The former signals investment in the future. The latter signals they might not have one.”

High-performing organizations listen to their employees frequently and are rewarded with strong employee experience scores. Employees want the opportunity to share their opinions, and the majority (68 percent) of employees enjoy giving feedback. Two in five (42 percent) of employees say they want their leaders to listen more, yet just 25 percent said their companies increased how often they listen in the past year.

“Times of change are precisely when employees need to feel heard the most,” said Granger. “Beyond signaling to employees that leaders care about them, it leads to action that moves the signal to reality. High-performing organizations have come to embrace this and have increased the frequency of employee listening. Others, however, have done precisely the opposite and will feel the pain eventually.”