Employee sentiment rebounds in April

Worker sentiment rebounded in April, snapping seven months of consecutive decline. The ADP Research Employee Motivation and Commitment Index, which tracks how U.S. workers think and feel about their jobs, gained 3 points to 132.

Sentiment improved in eight of the 10 sectors we track. Health care and social assistance had the biggest gain, rising 16 points to 139, its largest month-over-month increase in the history of the index. Information rose 15 points to 142, and education gained 6 points to 139.

Manufacturing and retail trade continued to decline. Manufacturing shed 8 points to 172, continuing a downward trend that began in December. The sector has erased its 2025 gains and is now where it was a year ago.

Retail and wholesale trade fell for the seventh month, dropping 5 points to 116, its lowest reading since January 2024.

Sentiment improved among repetitive task workers for the first time since December, with the index climbing 6 points to 103. Skilled task worker sentiment gained 2 points to 131; knowledge worker sentiment was unchanged at 122.

Worker sentiment improved at all but the smallest employers. Sentiment at medium-sized employers, those with 150 to 499 workers, gained 7 points to 117, ending a four-month slide. Employers with 5,000 or more workers rebounded 5 points to 89 after trending downward since August.

“The healthcare industry has been leading the way on hiring, and that strong job growth is reflected in worker sentiment,” said Dr. Mary Hayes, director of research at People and Performance at ADP Research. “As the U.S. population ages, health workers are stepping up to address the needs of our changing demographics.”

About the EMC Index

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 April 1 to 8, 2026.

We identify respondents by work type based on their choice of three options:

• I have a level of freedom to use my expertise to create something new. (Our definition of knowledge worker.)
• I use a level of expertise to solve similar problems each day. (Our definition of skilled task worker.)
• I do similar repetitive tasks each day. (Our definition of repetitive task worker.)

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 May 19.