Employee sentiment climbs to fourth consecutive record

The Employee Motivation and Commitment Index reached another all-time high, climbing two points in August to 149. It’s the fourth straight month the index has set a record.

Finance and insurance maintained its momentum for the fifth month, rising 10 points to its own new high of 119. Retail and wholesale trade hit a third straight record, climbing 9 points to 156. Transportation and warehousing, which has been rising since April, gained 5 points to 167, tying a record set in December.

Educational services had the only substantial decline, shedding 6 points to 144.

Beginning this month, ADP Research begins tracking employee motivation and commitment by job type. We group workers into three categories:

• Knowledge workers. Have a level of freedom to use their expertise to create something new.
• Skilled task workers. Use a level of expertise to solve similar problems each day.
• Repetitive task workers. Do similar repetitive tasks each day.

Each of these groups has a different reaction to the workplace.

Sentiment hit highs in August among skilled task workers, a group that includes nurses, electricians, and mechanics, and knowledge workers such as engineers, software developers, and financial analysts.

Knowledge worker sentiment rose 2 points to 135 in August, a new high. The index for skilled task workers gained 4 points to match a record high of 138 set in December.

Repetitive task workers, a group that includes cashiers, wait staff, and custodial workers, lost ground. Coming off a record high set in July, the group shed 5 points to 117, the first decline since January.

“Workers have a high level of attachment to their employers now. This is especially true of knowledge workers, whose motivation and commitment has climbed 18 points since the beginning of the year,” said Dr. Mary Hayes, director of People and Performance at ADP Research. “Repetitive task workers have been historically much lower on the index, compared to other work types. Although this group saw a 5-point decline from a record high in July, the gap has been narrowing since January.”

The Employee Motivation and Commitment Index tracks how people think and feel about their jobs and employers. ADP Research collects data each month using a panel survey to gather a stratified, random panel sample of 2,500 U.S. workers. This month’s survey was fielded August 1 through 11, 2025.

By providing a real-time measure of the state of worker allegiance, the index can tell us whether people are flourishing in their jobs or detaching. ADP Research publishes the EMC Index on the third Tuesday of every month. The next release will be September 16. For EMC Index historical data, visit the ADP Research Data Lab.