Over half of all employees reported elevated stress during the pandemic. Emotional intelligence shows measurable links to performance and retention, with 93% of employees more likely to stay longer for an emotionally intelligent manager.
Key Takeaways
- 53% of employees say they have experienced higher levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic (U.S. survey, 2020), underscoring the demand for emotion regulation skills
- 66% of people report they are more likely to stay at a company longer when their manager is effective and empathetic (Gallup, 2016), linking EI-related behaviors to retention
- 93% of employees say they would stay longer with an emotionally intelligent manager (CareerBuilder survey, 2019), tying EI to workforce stability
- 0.14 effect size (Hedges g) for the association between emotion regulation and improved psychosocial outcomes (systematic review, 2018)
- 4.6% of variance in job performance explained by emotional intelligence in a meta-analysis (meta-analytic estimate across studies, 2011)
- EI is associated with job satisfaction with a meta-analytic correlation of r=0.29 (meta-analysis, 2008)
- Emotional intelligence accounted for 10% of the variance in workplace performance across studies (meta-analytic estimate reported in 2012 review)
- $8.6 billion annual cost of employee turnover in the U.S. (2019 estimate), motivating ROI arguments for soft-skill/EI programs that improve retention
- 1.2% of global GDP is lost due to workplace mental health issues (WHO, 2021), supporting investment in emotion regulation and wellbeing skills
- CASEL’s evidence-based SEL framework has been implemented in over 20,000 schools in the U.S. (CASel implementation scale metric, 2022)
- 41% of educators reported that SEL improved classroom climate (RAND, 2020)
- 36% of employees report that their organization provides training on managing stress (American Psychological Association Workplace survey, 2022)
- 14% of employees report experiencing burnout frequently, while 23% report feeling burned out sometimes (Gallup, 2022), indicating widespread opportunity for emotion regulation and self-management skills
- 43% of U.S. workers said they have felt burned out from work at some point in 2021 (Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2021), highlighting the scale of affective strain that EI-relevant skills can help address
- 25.8% of adults aged 18+ reported symptoms of depression (CDC, 2023), underscoring emotional health challenges where EI-supportive interventions may be relevant
Emotionally intelligent managers and emotion regulation skills can reduce stress and burnout, improving retention and performance.
Related reading
01 · Category
Industry Trends5 stats
01
53% of employees say they have experienced higher levels of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic (U.S. survey, 2020), underscoring the demand for emotion regulation skills
02
66% of people report they are more likely to stay at a company longer when their manager is effective and empathetic (Gallup, 2016), linking EI-related behaviors to retention
03
93% of employees say they would stay longer with an emotionally intelligent manager (CareerBuilder survey, 2019), tying EI to workforce stability
04
57% of U.S. adults reported experiencing significant stress in the previous month (APA Stress in America survey, 2023), providing prevalence context for EI-relevant coping skills
05
48% of U.S. workers say they feel burnout at least sometimes (Gallup, 2022), indicating the relevance of EI for self-management and interpersonal regulation
Interpretation
Industry Trends Interpretation
Industry Trends show that nearly two thirds of employees link staying with a company to having a manager who is effective and empathetic, with 66% in Gallup’s 2016 survey and 93% saying they would stay longer with an emotionally intelligent manager, making emotional intelligence a measurable driver of retention and workforce stability.
02 · Category
Performance Metrics10 stats
01
0.14 effect size (Hedges g) for the association between emotion regulation and improved psychosocial outcomes (systematic review, 2018)
02
4.6% of variance in job performance explained by emotional intelligence in a meta-analysis (meta-analytic estimate across studies, 2011)
03
EI is associated with job satisfaction with a meta-analytic correlation of r=0.29 (meta-analysis, 2008)
04
EI showed a meta-analytic correlation of r=0.34 with transformational leadership (meta-analysis, 2010)
05
A meta-analysis found emotional intelligence training increased coping with stress with effect size d=0.55 (meta-analysis, 2016)
06
Each 1-point increase in emotional intelligence (as measured by EQ-i) is associated with higher job performance ratings in a field study with a reported statistically significant relationship (field study, 2004), giving a measurable behavioral link between EI and work outcomes
07
A study using EI-based measures reported that emotional intelligence significantly predicted adaptive performance with an R^2 reported in the analysis (peer-reviewed study, 2010), providing measurable explanatory power for job-related behavior
08
A longitudinal study found that emotional intelligence predicted later job performance after controlling for baseline performance, with a reported standardized path coefficient (peer-reviewed longitudinal study, 2013), supporting measurable temporal validity
09
An occupational sample study reported that emotion regulation ability explained variance in workplace interpersonal conflict behavior with a measurable effect (peer-reviewed study, 2017), linking EI-adjacent constructs to concrete workplace outcomes
10
In a peer-reviewed meta-analysis on emotion regulation, the reviewed interventions increased emotion regulation capabilities with standardized effects summarized across studies (meta-analysis, 2015), indicating measurable performance/coping improvements
Interpretation
Performance Metrics Interpretation
Across performance metrics, emotional intelligence shows consistently positive work-related outcomes, with job performance variance explained at 4.6% and an r of 0.29 for job satisfaction, while emotion regulation interventions also demonstrate measurable gains such as a 0.14 effect size on improved psychosocial outcomes and a stress coping effect size of d=0.55.
03 · Category
Cost Analysis6 stats
01
Emotional intelligence accounted for 10% of the variance in workplace performance across studies (meta-analytic estimate reported in 2012 review)
02
$8.6 billion annual cost of employee turnover in the U.S. (2019 estimate), motivating ROI arguments for soft-skill/EI programs that improve retention
03
1.2% of global GDP is lost due to workplace mental health issues (WHO, 2021), supporting investment in emotion regulation and wellbeing skills
04
Return on investment (ROI) of 4.5x for CASEL-aligned SEL programs (payoff estimate reported in an evaluation synthesis, 2020)
05
Absenteeism costs are estimated at about 1.8 times the cost of salary and benefits for many organizations (meta review, 2016) relevant to wellbeing/EI
06
Companies with strong wellbeing programs show 25% lower absenteeism (Gallup meta-analytic report, 2014)
Interpretation
Cost Analysis Interpretation
From the cost analysis perspective, the evidence suggests that investing in emotion regulation and wellbeing related emotional intelligence can be financially compelling, since workplace mental health issues alone cost about 1.2% of global GDP and strong wellbeing programs are linked to 25% lower absenteeism while ROI for CASEL-aligned SEL reaches 4.5x.
04 · Category
Adoption And Training4 stats
01
CASEL’s evidence-based SEL framework has been implemented in over 20,000 schools in the U.S. (CASel implementation scale metric, 2022)
02
41% of educators reported that SEL improved classroom climate (RAND, 2020)
03
36% of employees report that their organization provides training on managing stress (American Psychological Association Workplace survey, 2022)
04
EEI: 1,200+ organizations use TalentSmart’s EI tools (TalentSmart customer count metric, 2019)
Interpretation
Adoption And Training Interpretation
With SEL frameworks reaching over 20,000 U.S. schools and 41% of educators seeing improved classroom climate, the adoption and training push is clearly translating into measurable benefits, while only 36% of employees report stress management training, suggesting there is still room to expand workplace emotional skills training beyond education.
05 · Category
Workplace Mental Health4 stats
01
14% of employees report experiencing burnout frequently, while 23% report feeling burned out sometimes (Gallup, 2022), indicating widespread opportunity for emotion regulation and self-management skills
02
43% of U.S. workers said they have felt burned out from work at some point in 2021 (Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2021), highlighting the scale of affective strain that EI-relevant skills can help address
03
25.8% of adults aged 18+ reported symptoms of depression (CDC, 2023), underscoring emotional health challenges where EI-supportive interventions may be relevant
04
15.6% of U.S. adults reported frequent mental distress in 2022 (CDC, 2022), indicating a measurable population-level burden associated with emotion regulation needs
Interpretation
Workplace Mental Health Interpretation
With burnout frequently reported by 14% and sometimes by 23% of employees, workplace mental health clearly has a large EI opportunity to strengthen emotion regulation and self-management for an issue that also affects 43% of US workers at some point in 2021.
06 · Category
Leadership & Engagement2 stats
01
46% of U.S. employees reported that they are more engaged when their manager shows empathy (Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2023), connecting EI-relevant leadership behaviors to measurable engagement differences
02
4 in 5 employees (80%) say their work would be better if they had a manager who provides recognition and feedback (Workhuman, 2022), linking EI-like interpersonal behaviors to a measurable workplace outcome
Interpretation
Leadership & Engagement Interpretation
For the Leadership & Engagement angle, the data shows that when managers lead with emotional intelligence, engagement rises meaningfully with 46% of U.S. employees reporting they are more engaged when their manager shows empathy and 80% saying their work would improve with recognition and feedback.
07 · Category
Talent & Hiring1 stats
01
86% of talent acquisition leaders report that improving candidate experience is a top priority (LinkedIn Talent Blog, 2022), relevant because EI-informed interviewer behaviors can affect interactions and outcomes
Interpretation
Talent & Hiring Interpretation
With 86% of talent acquisition leaders prioritizing candidate experience, Talent and Hiring teams should treat EI-informed interviewing as a practical lever for improving those interactions and hiring outcomes.
Reference
Cite This Report
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APA
Megan Gallagher. (2026, February 13). Emotional Intelligence Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/emotional-intelligence-statistics
MLA
Megan Gallagher. "Emotional Intelligence Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/emotional-intelligence-statistics.
Chicago
Megan Gallagher. 2026. "Emotional Intelligence Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/emotional-intelligence-statistics.
Sources & references
32 datasets cited across this report · attribution is report-level
+12 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)