Motivation crisis in Germany: Why every second does not do his best!

Motivation crisis in Germany: Why every second does not do his best!

A current survey by the exam and consulting company EY shows that only 48 percent of employees in Germany state to do their best at work. The level of motivation in Germany is therefore below the international average of 54 percent. 17,350 people took part in the survey carried out in August 2025, including 1,000 from Germany.

The motivation in France (37 percent), the Netherlands (36 percent) and Japan (19 percent) is particularly low. In contrast, countries such as India (67 percent), China (59 percent) and the United States (57 percent) report higher employee motivation. In addition, the survey shows that older employees of the baby boomer generation are most motivated: 63 percent of them indicate to do their best, while in generation there are only 43 percent of this claim.

recommendation and causes of unmotivation

Only 44 percent of respondents in Germany would recommend their employer to a friend, which is below average in a global comparison. Nelson Taapken, partner at EY, expresses that the results should stimulate thought, especially compared to countries with poorer conditions. Taapken emphasizes that unmotivated work becomes problematic when it becomes permanent. Possible causes of unmotivation are poor leadership, poor corporate culture, lack of communication and stress through revision.

In addition, employee motivation is also of interest in an international context. Companies and managers face intercultural influences on employee motivation, which is caused by globalization and multicultural personnel. Cultural differences influence the motivation of employees by shaping values ​​and norms. According to the international surveys of the Gallup organization, only 13 percent of employees experience good external influences on their motivation, while this proportion is 15 percent in Germany.

In the USA, the highest efforts to motivate employee are determined, followed by Western Europe and Southeast Asia. An analysis shows that work motivation is different in different cultures. Self -efficacy in the United States and Africa is highest, while Japanese tends to be lower self -efficacy. Companies can achieve competitive advantages through targeted measures for employee motivation, whereby cultural peculiarities should be taken into account in the motivation in order to make effective management decisions, such as wpgs.de

The results of the survey of EY also leave questions to improve the motivation of employees in Germany and the need to make the working environment more appealing to all generations, which is of great importance in today's globalized world of work, such as Schwarzwaelder-bote.de

-transmitted by West-Ost-Medien