New Qualtrics study reveals top employee experience trends in New Zealand for 2025
Qualtrics today released the sixth annual Employee Experience Trends report, revealing critical insights into the state of employee experience and the modern workplace to help businesses and people leaders improve employee experience, boost productivity, and drive wellbeing in 2025.
Drawing on 35,000 responses across 23 countries – including 1,065 from New Zealand – the study reveals employees are being held back by chaotic workplaces, dispels common workplace stereotypes of younger workers, a concerning level of employee trust in leaders, the importance of first and last impressions to employee success and brand image, and how AI inertia is creating organisational and operational risk.
The 2025 Employee Experience Trends from Qualtrics:
- 2025’s best employers will make work less chaotic
- Young employees ARE optimistic
- Employee experiences are being ruined by entry and exit
- Prioritising short-term gains costs long-term trust
- Employees outpace companies on AI adoption
2025’s best employers will make work less chaotic
As many companies have continued to change working models, systems, and processes for the modern workplace in the years since the pandemic, a disparity has emerged between business focuses and employee needs. Workers in New Zealand are more engaged when their employer’s culture and processes empower them to adapt to customer needs, and when there is a focus on having a positive impact in the world. However, more often than not organisations are failing to meet their employees’ expectations in these areas with workers rating these attributes as some of the lowest scoring areas. Growing pressure to increase productivity could also be having the opposite effect. Employees who feel under the pump are less engaged, have lower levels of well-being, and more likely to leave.
“Over the past few years workers in New Zealand and across the globe have been dealing with relentless change. It’s no surprise many have reached their breaking point,” said Dr. Cecelia Herbert, Workplace Behavioural Scientist, Qualtrics XM Institute.
“Work has somehow become even more chaotic since the pandemic as employers pursue short-term wins and try to adapt ways of working for modern realities. Yet for a number of years now the best employee experiences are about how and why work gets done – and these two aspects are the most impactful pathway to sustainable productivity and positive people outcomes.”
|
Top 5 drivers of employee engagement |
% of employees favourable to driver |
|
I am proud of this organisation’s efforts to have a positive impact on the world |
66% |
|
This organisation’s processes enable me to effectively meet my customers’ needs |
72% |
|
I am encouraged to develop new and better ways of serving customers |
69% |
|
Senior leadership responds to feedback from employees |
60% |
|
Overall, I feel that my career goals can be met at this organisation |
65% |
Young employees ARE often the most optimistic and driven
Contrary to popular belief, young employees are often a businesses’ most engaged, motivated, and optimistic. In fact, the only employee experience indicator where younger generations lag, unsurprisingly, is their intent to stay.
“It’s time to end the scapegoating of young employees for workplace woes. These mindsets are crushing the optimism and fresh thinking younger workers bring to the workplace, creating a scenario that benefits no-one,” adds Dr. Herbert. “Younger workers live in and will inherit a very different world than generations of the past. Rather than bemoan their low intent to stay, leaders should focus on ways to nurture their growth and creativity, stretch their skills, and ultimately capture the enthusiasm to set the workforce up for success for generations to come.”
|
Age |
Engagement |
Can challenge the traditional way of doing things |
Believe the organisation has an outstanding future |
Would recommend this organisation’s products / services |
Feel they can meet their career goals |
Feel paid fairly |
Intent to stay 3+ years |
|
18-24 |
70% |
67% |
81% |
77% |
68% |
68% |
49% |
|
25-34 |
67% |
64% |
71% |
73% |
69% |
62% |
46% |
|
35-44 |
70% |
65% |
73% |
77% |
65% |
64% |
52% |
|
45-54 |
62% |
55% |
66% |
74% |
55% |
58% |
59% |
|
55+ |
61% |
48% |
70% |
75% |
61% |
63% |
53% |
Substandard first and last impressions hinder success
The candidate and entry experience is one of the lowest rated employee journeys, which sets us up for engagement, wellbeing, and intent-to-stay issues further down the line. For instance, just 28% of employees with less than one-year tenure with their current employer plan to stay for 3+ years, compared to 46% of workers with 1-5 years and 67% of those with 5+ years. Employees often report a similar poor employee experience at the exit stage, meaning they are leaving with a negative perception.
“Every organisation’s brand and reputation is heavily influenced by the stories people tell about applying for a job and what it was like working there. Getting these first and final impressions right are key strategic levers, but right now they are being overlooked, meaning employees are negatively impacted before they have even worked their first day,” said Dr. Herbert.
|
Applying or interviewing for a job |
Starting a new job |
Changing roles within the organisation |
Leaving a job |
|
|
Exceeds expectations |
16% |
53% |
42% |
27% |
|
Below or greatly below expectations |
39% |
16% |
13% |
26% |
Short-term productivity pressure costs businesses long-term gains
Slightly more than half of local workers (56%) believe their bosses will prioritise employee wellbeing over short-term business gains. This finding suggests a lack of trust in leaders by their employees, which needs critical attention if organisations are to positively influence employee experience indicators in 2025.
“The relationship between employees and their leaders is getting more and more tense, fuelled by decisions to roll-back investments in DEI or sustainability, poorly managed workplace change, and more. While trust is hard to earn and maintain during times of disruption and uncertainty, our study shows its impact is huge on both business and people-focused outcomes, which is why leaders need to know how to cultivate it in 2025,” said Dr. Herbert.
|
Agree 2025 |
Global |
|
|
Senior leaders in my organisation prioritise people’s wellbeing above immediate profit or gains (benevolence) |
56% |
56% |
|
Senior leaders in my organisation have the skills and knowledge needed to do their job well (competence) |
67% |
68% |
|
The behaviour of senior leadership is consistent with this organisation’s values (integrity) |
65% |
67% |
AI inertia creates risk as employees outpace companies on AI adoption
Despite touting AI as the solution to lifting productivity, only 44% of employees in New Zealand say their organisation is providing AI enablement and training. A similar number (49%) say their company has AI guidelines, ethics or principles. Compounding the issue, 63% of workers believe decision makers understand new technologies well enough to manage them effectively. This lack of AI enablement and trust to deliver the change creates significant operational and organisational risk, with more than half of employees opting to use AI tools they’ve found themselves, and 41% using them daily or weekly.
“It is not employee resistance holding back workplace progress with AI. The real inertia stems from the lack of the tools, training, and guidance employees need in the modern workplace. AI training and enablement must be a key strategic priority as its impact is exponential – from addressing security and operational risks, driving improved business outcomes, and ultimately creating an environment where employees and employers co-create the future of work,” said Dr. Herbert.
|
Agree |
Global average |
|
|
My organisation provides training and enablement on the use of AI tools |
44% |
52% |
|
My organisation has clear principles, ethics or guidelines on the use of AI tools |
49% |
52% |
|
I am involved in deciding how my job will be done in the future |
54% |
59% |
For the full report and methodology, visit here: https://www.qualtrics.com/en-au/ebooks-guides/employee-experience-trends/
About Qualtrics
Qualtrics, the leader of the experience management category, is a cloud-native software platform that empowers organizations to deliver exceptional experiences and build deep relationships with their customers and employees. With insights from Qualtrics, organizations can identify and resolve the greatest friction points in their business, retain and engage top talent, and bring the right products and services to market. Nearly 20,000 organizations around the world use Qualtrics’ advanced AI to listen, understand, and take action. Qualtrics uses its vast universe of experience data to form the largest database of human sentiment in the world. Qualtrics is co-headquartered in Provo, Utah and Seattle. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com.
