ResourcesReportsState of Work: Great Lakes & New England

2026

State of Work: Great Lakes & New England

Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio.

In the State of Work 2025: Great Lakes & New England, TriNet surfaces what's really happening inside small and medium-sized businesses across the region, from both sides of the desk.

Great Lakes and New England employers are broadly optimistic about how their workforces are doing. Employees don't always experience it the same way. This report maps where the gaps sit, where employers and employees line up, and one meaningful reversal where employees are more positive than their employers realize.

Based on surveys of 150 employers and 115 employees across Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Ohio -based SMBs. Data collected June 30 to July 2, 2025.

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State of Work: Great Lakes & New England 2025 illustration

Satisfaction

Employers Think Work/Life Balance Is Fine. Employees Aren't as Sure.

Great Lakes and New England employers are highly satisfied with their own work/life balance, and they assume the same is true for their teams. Employees report a more strained picture, and the hours they're working don't line up with what employers think they're working.

90.0

of Greater Lakes and New England employers report satisfaction with their work/life balance

75.6

of employees say the same, a 14-point gap

13.1

of employees report some level of dissatisfaction, compared to 3.3% of employers

Employees are working longer hours than employers realize.

73.1% of employers believe employees work the right number of hours. Only 57.4% of employees agree. A third of employees say they work too many hours, and employers aren't seeing it. Employers also report offering the fixes at high rates: flexible hours, generous PTO, encouraging teamwork. Employees report experiencing those supports at less than half the rate their employers report offering them. The support may be there, but it isn't landing.

Work/Life Balance Satisfaction

“How satisfied are you with your work/life balance?” | Employer = personal satisfaction. Employee = self-reported.”

Item	Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Somewhat Dissatisfied	Neither	Somewhat Satisfied	Satisfied	Very Satisfied
Employer	0 %	0 %	3 %	7 %	22 %	41 %	27 %
Employee	1 %	4 %	9 %	11 %	29 %	23 %	24 %

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Engagement

Confident Engagement Scores. Real Turnover Beneath the Surface.

Great Lakes and New England employers are confident their teams are engaged, and most employees agree. But engagement doesn't tell the whole story. When you ask employees directly about their job search intent, more than half aren't fully locked in.

78.3

of Great Lakes and New England employees report being moderately or extremely engaged

55.7

of the same employees are either actively looking or open to switching jobs

41.3

of employers estimate less than 10% of their workforce is looking

More than half of Greater East employees are either looking or open to leaving.

That's a significant gap from the less than 10% employers estimate, and what's driving it may not be what leadership expects. Employees still feel strongly connected to their actual work. Where they feel further away is from leadership. The commitment to the job isn't the issue. The commitment to leadership might be.

Employee Engagement Levels

"How engaged are employees at work?"

Item	Not at all Engaged	Slightly Engaged	Somewhat Engaged	Moderately Engaged	Extremely Engaged
Employer	0 %	0 %	5 %	45 %	49 %
Employee	2 %	5 %	14 %	36 %	43 %

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Knowledge

Employers See a Broader Skills Gap Than Employees Do.

Both groups agree leadership and managerial skills are the top area for development. That's where the alignment ends. Employers see urgency across every other skill category too. Employees don't.

53.3

of Greater West employers say leadership skills will be critical to develop — only 36.5% of employees agree

52.0

of employers cite data analytics as a top future skill, compared to 26.9% of employees

92.6

of employers flag AI expertise as a development priority, compared to 30.8% of employees

Skills Employees Need to Develop (Next 3+ Years)

“Which skills will be most important to develop?"

Item	Upskilling	Leadership/Mgmt Skills	Creative Skills	Data Analytics	Reskilling	AI Expertise
Employer	50 %	53 %	52 %	46 %	44 %	41 %
Employee	28 %	50 %	31 %	25 %	24 %	26 %

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Empowerment

Employers Define Empowerment as Training. Employees Define It as Voice.

Employers and employees in Great Lakes and New England don't share the same picture of what empowerment looks like. Employers put training and development first. Employees put being heard first.

64.0

of Great Lakes and New England employers say training and development defines an empowered experience, more than any other factor

42.6

of employees say having their input sought and voices heard defines empowerment, more than any other factor

44.0

of employers say autonomy over time is part of an empowered experience. Only 20.0% of employees agree

Why employees leave — and what employers think

Employers and employees both say better pay is the top reason people leave. From there, the two lists diverge. Employers point to "increased ability to make an impact" at 27.3%. Only 6.1% of employees say that's why they left. That's the largest gap in the section, and it shows up alongside two others: employers cite flexible hours (31.3% vs. 20.9%) and commute (26.0% vs. 17.4%) at meaningfully higher rates than employees do. When employees talk about why they leave, they land somewhere different: pay, work/life balance, benefits, and room to grow.

What an Empowered Experience Looks Like

“What does empowerment look like at work?”

Item	Training & Development	Employee Input Sought/Heard	Flex Work Location	Mentorship Opportunities	Technology Resources	Info Shared Freely	Ownership Over Work & Outcomes	Autonomy Over Time Management
Employer	64 %	53 %	47 %	43 %	39 %	42 %	41 %	44 %
Employee	42 %	43 %	36 %	34 %	37 %	40 %	30 %	20 %

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Benefits

Strong Alignment on Core Benefits.

The benefits picture in the Great Lakes and New England is one of the tightest matches between what employers assume matters and what employees rate as important. Core benefits (medical, paid vacation, mental health, and parental leave) show near-perfect alignment on the "extremely important" rating.

61.3

of Great Lakes and New England employers rate medical insurance "Extremely Important," and 56.5% of employees agree

54.7

of employers and 54.8% of employees rate paid vacation and sick time "Extremely Important," nearly identical

48.0

of employers and 46.9% of employees rate mental health coverage "Extremely Important"

Benefit Importance — "Extremely Important" Ratings

"% rating this benefit 'Extremely Important' when looking for a job"

Item	Medical Insurance	Pension & Retirement (401k)	Paid Vacation/Sick Time	Life Insurance	Dental Insurance
Employer	61 %	43 %	55 %	30 %	31 %
Employee	57 %	38 %	55 %	28 %	28 %

Item	Mental Health Coverage	Vision Insurance	Parental Leave	Childcare Assistance	Education Reimbursement
Employer	48 %	28 %	46 %	25 %	37 %
Employee	47 %	27 %	45 %	24 %	36 %

Where the alignment matters most.

Medical, paid vacation, mental health, and parental leave are the benefits that can shape whether someone takes a job or leaves one. On all four, employers and employees in Great Lakes and New England are rating importance within a few points of each other. That's a benefits strategy already built on what people value, not a guess about what they might.

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HR Expectations

Employers Want 24/7 HR. Employees Are More Divided.

Employers in Great Lakes and New England overwhelmingly want round-the-clock HR access. Employees are supportive but with more hesitation, and the gap widens along generational lines. Younger employees back the idea strongly. Older ones are more skeptical, which points to where the demand is heading over time.

84.4

of Great Lakes and New England employers agree HR should be a 24/7 function

63.5

of employees agree, a 21-point gap

HR Should Be a 24/7 Function

"To what extent do you agree: HR should be a 24/7 function" | Combined Agree: 84.4% employers / 63.5% employees.

Item	Strongly Disagree	Disagree	Somewhat Disagree	Neither Agree nor Disagree	Somewhat Agree	Agree	Strongly Agree
Employer	1 %	3 %	6 %	6 %	20 %	39 %	26 %
Employee	4 %	6 %	8 %	16 %	24 %	23 %	17 %

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AI in HR

Employers Are Ready. Employees Are Cautious.

Great Lakes and New England employers use AI frequently and are broadly comfortable with it across HR functions. Employees are moving slower, and the gap widens the more personal the task gets

68.2

of Great Lakes and New England employers use AI at work at least weekly

38.5

of employees use AI at least weekly, and 23.5% never use it at all

28.7

of employees frequently use AI for training and development, the highest employee usage of any HR function

AI Frequency of Use

"How frequently do you use AI at work?”

Item	Never	Rarely (1-2x/yr)	Occasionally (1-2x/mo)	Moderate (1-2x/wk)	Great Deal (multiple/wk)
Employer	5 %	6 %	21 %	34 %	34 %
Employee	24 %	17 %	17 %	21 %	17 %

AI Acceptability vs. Employee Usage by HR Function

Employer acceptability = % rating Moderately or Extremely Acceptable. Employee use = % using Almost Every Time or Every Time.

Item	Payroll Questions	Benefits Questions	Personal HR Questions	Interpersonal Concerns	Performance Reviews	Training & Development
Employer	74 %	71 %	60 %	40 %	52 %	72 %
Employee	26 %	24 %	21 %	20 %	23 %	29 %

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Employer permission is running ahead of employee behavior.

On transactional tasks like payroll and benefits, employers are largely comfortable with AI (around 71 to 74% acceptance). Employees are using it at less than half those rates. The gap widens on anything personal. For interpersonal issues, employer acceptance drops to 39.8%. Employee use drops to 19.2%. And more than half of employees haven't used AI for interpersonal concerns at all. The adoption story here isn't about permission. It's about what employees are willing to try.

Interested in a free HR strategy call?

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Explore workplace trends across AI, employee engagement, remote work, and more in the full Great Lakes & New England State of Work report by TriNet.

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