The Most Engaged Employees May Be the Most Likely to Look for a New Role
In May 2026, KPMG answers a question leaders can no longer ignore: why are the most engaged employees also the most likely to leave? KPMG’s position is that employees with close personal friends at work deliver outsized performance while absorbing disproportionate pressure, creating a retention risk most organizations are not actively managing.
Why are the employees who drive the strongest engagement, trust, and performance also the ones most likely to be searching for a new job?
New research from KPMG and CivicScience shows that employees with close personal friends at work sit at the center of organizational performance — and organizational strain. They report the highest levels of engagement as well as the biggest emotional highs, and the lowest emotional lows, yet nearly half say they are likely to look for a new role in the next year.
This tension matters now because the nature of work is changing. As AI takes on more complex tasks, the cognitive and emotional demands placed on people are increasing, not decreasing. The employees who carry culture, trust, and adoption are also absorbing more pressure than most leaders realize.
Why It’s Harder Than It Looks
High engagement is usually treated as a retention signal, not a warning sign.
Employees with strong workplace friendships often are also more productive, trusted, and deeply connected to their teams. However, that masks a more complex reality: these employees experience higher emotional highs and lower emotional lows at the same time. The same connection that fuels performance also amplifies stress.
Many organizations assume pressure is evenly distributed across the workforce. In practice, it concentrates around the people others rely on most — managers, culture carriers, and high performers — making attrition risk uneven and harder to detect until it is too late.
The Evidence
1
2
3
4
KPMG’s Answer
The employees absorbing the most pressure are also the ones doing the most to keep organizations moving.
Employees with close personal friends at work combine strong market value with an outsized internal role. They adopt AI faster, focus more on skill development, build trust, and often manage others — all while carrying elevated emotional strain. When these employees leave, the pressure does not disappear. It shifts to people who are less equipped to absorb it.
This is not a cultural issue or a generational preference. It is a structural risk. Organizations are relying on a high‑impact segment of the workforce without recognizing the cumulative load they carry. In a workplace that is becoming more demanding, failing to manage that imbalance increases the likelihood of sudden, destabilizing attrition.
Identify where pressure concentrates, not just where engagement is highest. Employees with strong connections may need different support.
Reassess retention strategies that assume engagement equals role stability. Highly connected, highly capable employees often remain deeply engaged while staying actively connected to external opportunities. Treating them as low‑risk can leave organizations exposed.
Explore more
Get in touch
Start the conversation
Connect with our team today to learn how we can help you realize the full potential of GenAI.
