Employee sentiment weakened in November

The Employee Motivation and Commitment Index fell for the third straight month, dropping one point to 145 as sentiment weakened in five of the 10 sectors we track.

The volatile real estate sector posted the largest decline, dropping 16 points to 124. Professional, scientific, and technical services slipped nine points to 134, and finance and insurance fell six points to 117.

Two sectors reached new record highs this month: Transportation and warehousing rose eight points to 168, while construction, which has been trending upward since June, climbed six points to 121.

Sentiment among knowledge workers saw its first decline since January, shedding one point to 135. After a two-month slide, skilled task worker sentiment rebounded three points to 136.

Repetitive task worker sentiment, which had seen a step decline since July, bounced up six points to 114.

“We see this month a third straight drop in the EMCI. When we compare this to the slowdown in hiring this year it’s easy to conclude that people who still hold jobs in this turbulent labor market are motivated and committed to their employers,” said Dr. Mary Hayes, director of People and Performance at ADP Research.

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 November 3 through 10, 2025.

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 December 16. For EMC Index historical data, visit the ADP Research Data Lab.