More Than Just a Blip:
Employee Satisfaction Continues Recovery

After months of economic strain and workforce uncertainty, employee satisfaction is not just rebounding: According to new eNPS data from BambooHR, Q3 2025 marks the highest average employee happiness since 2023. But while the overall trajectory is upward, early signals of slowdown in industries like tech and construction hint that the happiness surge may have a ceiling.

Last quarter, BambooHR reported that employees were getting happier, and in Q3, new eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) data confirms that this rise in employee satisfaction is more than just a blip. The biggest question is, will this rise continue through the end of the year, or is the happiness bubble about to burst?

In Q3 2025, average employee happiness climbed to their highest levels since 2023. This follows the trajectory of the past couple of quarters, which has shown a continuous rise in employee satisfaction as companies recover from the downturn in late 2024.

Overall employee satisfaction held steady at an average of 40—a minimal increase from Q2. The year-over-year rise in satisfaction remains strong, with a 14% increase in eNPS from Q3 2024.

While this climb in satisfaction is a sign of hope, there are indicators that some industries’ happiness growth is slowing down, with several sectors showing little to no change in eNPS from Q2. Economic uncertainty, AI-attributed layoffs, and volatile regulatory changes may challenge the sustainability of this happiness boom.

In this report, based on eNPS data from over 60,900 employees at over 1,700 companies, we’ll analyze trends by company size, tenure, and industry, breaking down which workers are the happiest and who’s still struggling.

What’s Employee Net Promoter Score^® (eNPS)?

eNPS helps employers measure employee satisfaction. It consists of a numeric rating of how likely employees are to recommend the organization as a place to work. Employees select a score from 0–10, and these scores, categorized as Promoters (9 or 10), Passives (8), and Detractors (7 or below), are used to quantify how employees feel about their company.

The eNPS score is then calculated by taking the percentage of Promoters and subtracting the percentage of Detractors. The resulting score can range from -100 to +100, with higher eNPS scores indicating a higher level of employee satisfaction and loyalty. What is a good eNPS score?

• Above 0 is good.
• Above 20 is favorable.
• Above 50 is excellent.
• Above 80 is world class.

Net Promoter, NPS, and the NPS-related emoticons are registered U.S. trademarks, and NetPromoter Score and Net Promoter System are service marks, of Bain & Company, Inc., NICE Systems, Inc. and Fred Reichheld.

Key takeaways by employee group

Employee tenure: The mid-career dip widened, with eNPS for employees with 11 to 15 years of tenure dropping 5%.

Company headcount: Small businesses maintained their eNPS edge, but enterprises saw the biggest jump, with a 10% increase among 500+ employees.

Key takeaways by industry

Construction: eNPS stayed fairly stable, with a 2% decrease from Q2.

Travel & hospitality: eNPS surged 17% from Q2 to Q3, with September marking an all-time high.

Finance: No significant change from Q2, despite a July spike in employee happiness.

Healthcare: Satisfaction remained high, with a record-breaking eNPS in August.

Education: Continued its recovery from January lows, ending Q3 with an all-time high in August and an 8% quarter-over-quarter increase.

Technology: eNPS decreased 4% from Q2 but is still up 9% YoY.

Nonprofit: Satisfaction levels are similar to Q2, with an 8% YoY increase.

Restaurant, food & beverage: eNPS rose to 34, a 10% increase from Q2.

In Q3 2025, employees with more than 25 years of tenure continued to report the highest average eNPS (56), followed by employees with less than one year at 52.

Mid-career employees, at 2 to 3 years of tenure, reported the lowest satisfaction, with an average eNPS of 30. This follows an ongoing U-shaped trend in happiness by tenure: new employees and long-haulers are the most happy, while mid-career workers hit a satisfaction nadir.

Q3 showed a widening in the mid-career happiness gap, with employees in the 11 to 15 year-range dropping from 46 in Q2 to 44 in Q3, a 5% decrease. 4 to 5 year and 6 to 10 year-range employees continued to have middling eNPS averages, at 34 and 37, respectively.

This growing happiness gap suggests that mid-career expectations aren’t being met, and even greater tenure employees surpassing the 10-year mark are becoming less satisfied in their roles. This may point to a disconnect between employee development opportunities and evolving career aspirations.

Dissatisfaction among mid-career employees may also reflect ongoing anxieties about job security and financial stability. While more tenured employees may be headed towards retirement and new employees are relieved to find a job, mid-career workers could be wary of what the future holds amid rising inflation, wage stagnation, and layoffs.

Strategies like career development programs and compensation transparency may help support mid-career employees and secure long-term retention.

Q3 saw increases in satisfaction across almost every company size. Small organizations maintained their edge as the happiest size cohort: companies with 24 or fewer employees reported an average eNPS of 52—a 2% increase from last quarter. This is a 9-point lead on companies with 25 to 75 employees, who had the second-highest average eNPS at 43.

76 to 150 employee headcount orgs had a slight rise in eNPS, with a 3% increase from Q2. Larger companies (151–300 and 301–500 employees) also reported fairly stable eNPS results, occupying the middle of the pack.

Enterprise companies (500+ employees) may have some of the lowest satisfaction scores, but in Q3 they also had the greatest jump, with a 10% increase in average eNPS. This follows a general pattern of enterprise companies’ happiness rising in the late summer, with a 20% increase in Q2 to Q3 2024 and a more modest increase of 6% from Q2 to Q3 2023.

The pattern of Q3 happiness bumps suggest enterprise employees may be significantly benefitting from late summer PTO or seasonal changes in workload. This year’s notably strong Q2 to Q3 increase could also indicate that companies have made shifts in their engagement strategies.

Employee happiness is on the upswing, with nearly every industry seeing increases in eNPS averages from Q2 to Q3. But as satisfaction levels rise, some industries may have a stronger grip on their happiness gains than others.

Travel and hospitality had a surge in employee happiness in Q3, with a 17% increase from Q2 and a record-breaking eNPS in September. This closely aligns with trends from 2024, which also saw a 17% increase from Q2 to Q3. It remains to be seen whether the industry can maintain these happiness levels through the end of the year.

Education and restaurant, food, and beverage both had spikes in happiness as well, with 8% and 10% increases from Q2, respectively. Despite an increase in satisfaction for restaurant, food, and beverage, the sector still remains the least happy across industries.

Construction is the highest-ranked industry for employee happiness, with an average eNPS score of 53. This continues a 2-year streak as the happiest industry, indicating a surprisingly stable employee sentiment amidst fluctuating economic conditions.

Meanwhile, tech saw a slight dip in employee happiness, with a 4% decrease from Q2 to Q3. There’s still a year-over-year rise in eNPS, suggesting that while satisfaction may be softening, tech’s overall happiness is still trending upward.

Employee satisfaction may be on the rise, but plateaus in some industries point to a potential ceiling for this happiness boom. At the same time, a handful of industries are experiencing record highs in employee happiness. Leaders will need to look carefully at the numbers if they want to keep the good mood going.

Below, we break down what’s happening across each industry, and what it might really mean.

• eNPS decreased by 2% from Q2 to Q3, with an average of 53.
• There was a 1-point decrease from Q2 to Q3.
• Satisfaction remains stable compared to Q3 last year, with only a 1% increase YoY.

Construction continues its two-year streak as the highest-scoring industry for employee satisfaction. The construction industry did see a slight decline in happiness, cooling off after a spike in Q2. The average eNPS for Q3 was 53, a one-point drop from Q2.

Compared to Q3 of last year, average eNPS in construction is up 1%, indicating a steady rise in employee happiness year-over-year.

• eNPS spiked in Q3, with a 17% increase from Q2.
• September recorded the highest eNPS on record, at 49.
• Compared to Q3 of last year, average eNPS is 3 points higher, a 7% increase YoY.

In Q3, travel and hospitality had record-breaking levels of employee satisfaction, with a notable 17% increase in average eNPS from Q2. This follows patterns of past years where the industry saw a Q3 bump, but 2025 stands out with an all-time high in eNPS in September.

As employee happiness surges in travel and hospitality, the biggest question is whether the industry can sustain the good mood—for the past two years, the industry has seen a significant fall in happiness in the fourth quarter. That said, employee satisfaction is still rising year-over-year, with a 7% increase from Q3 of last year.

• There was no significant change to average eNPS from Q2 to Q3, remaining stable at 42.
• July 2025 had the highest average eNPS since October 2022, at 43.
• Compared to Q3 of last year, eNPS is 4 points higher—an 11% increase.

Finance continued its 2025 rise in employee happiness, with July marking the highest average eNPS since October 2022. Employee satisfaction has increased 11% year-over-year, indicating an optimism among the workforce, despite economic uncertainties.

• Q3 eNPS maintains Q2’s average, continuing to break records.
• August had the highest eNPS score (38) since July 2022.
• Compared to Q3 last yer, average eNPS increased 6%.

Healthcare maintained its upward climb in happiness, boasting its highest eNPS results since July 2022. However, the slight flattening of employee satisfaction may point to healthcare having hit its peak for 2025. But with average eNPS up 6% year-over-year, the healthcare industry is still looking at a fairly strong recovery from its 2024 slump, regardless of whether the happiness boom continues.

• Q3 average eNPS was 39, an 8% increase from Q2.
• There was a 30% increase in eNPS from January to August 2025.
• Compared to Q3 last year, eNPS is 3 points higher—a 9% increase.

In Q3, education saw a rise in employee happiness, with an all-time high in average eNPS in August 2025, at 41. After a sharp drop in happiness in January 2025, education has made a steady recovery, ending August with a 30% increase in eNPS from the beginning of the year.

The average eNPS for Q3 was 39, a 9% increase year-over-year. Compared to other industries, the education sector maintains a moderate but stable level of employee satisfaction, currently ranking as the fourth happiest industry.

• eNPS decreased slightly from Q2 to Q3, with an average of 36.
• There was a 2-point decrease from Q2 to Q3, a 4% decrease.
• Compared to Q3 last year, eNPS is 3 points higher—a 9% increase YoY.

After a significant rebound in Q2, technology was one of the few sectors that had a decrease in employee happiness in Q3. Despite a small spike in happiness in July, the average eNPS for Q3 ended up at 36, a 4% decrease from Q2.

Employee satisfaction in tech is still rising year-over-year, but the industry has yet to recover to 2023 highs. The recent dip in Q3 suggests that tech workers may be once again feeling the sting of layoffs, AI-related pressures, and broader economic instability.

• Average eNPS for Q3 is 35, similar to Q2.
• eNPS fell 11% (37 to 33) from August to September.
• Compared to Q3 last year, eNPS has increased modestly, from 33 to 35—an 8% increase.

In Q3 2025, happiness in the nonprofit sector rose, and then fell, ending the quarter with minimal changes from Q2. The sector is still seeing some recovery in employee happiness, with an 8% year-over-year increase in average eNPS. But following a deep plunge in happiness at the end of 2024, the nonprofit sector has some ground to cover to restore employee sentiment.

• Average eNPS of Q3 is 34, a 10% increase from Q2.
• Compared to Q3 of last year, average eNPS has increased 2%.
• July and August saw the highest eNPS averages since April 2024.

In Q3 2025, restaurant, food, and beverage continued to be the happiness straggler, ranking as the least happy industry. However, a 10% increase from Q2 indicates a glimmer of hope for the sector, and there is moderate year-over-year growth compared to Q3 2024.

It remains to be seen whether the restaurant, food, and beverage industry can hold onto this happiness boost through the end of 2025.

The continued rise in employee happiness is a strong signal that HR initiatives are paying off. To keep satisfaction high, HR pros will need to dig deeper into what’s working and what employees will need most as 2025 comes to a close.

Amid high-stakes current events and an uncertain economy, the rise in employee satisfaction leaves some questions. Are employees truly feeling happy, or does this high satisfaction point to a greater resilience in workers? Will this happiness carry into next year, or are employees just relieved to be getting through 2025 in one piece?

Things are looking bright for the moment, but employers shouldn’t rest on their laurels. As 2025 comes to a close, HR pros have an opportunity to listen closely, offer more personalized support options, and connect employees to a greater sense of purpose.

By analyzing employee feedback like eNPS data, HR leaders can start to identify some of the underlying causes of employee sentiment and apply the insights to support a work environment where everyone can thrive.

About BambooHR

BambooHR^® is the leading HR software solution that sets people free to do great work™, by managing the complex work of supporting employees and succeeding as a business, while giving leaders all the data they need to make informed strategic decisions.

Intuitively designed and easy-to-use benefits administration, payroll, performance, time tracking, and reporting where everything works together means less focus on process and more focus on growing what matters most—people.

Over the past 15 years, BambooHR has been the trusted partner of HR professionals at 33 thousand companies with employees in over 190 countries and 50 industries, supporting millions of users throughout their employee experience.

Methodology

All source data is from BambooHR^® Employee Satisfaction, gathered between January 2020 and September 2025, and includes more than 1,730 companies, tracking anonymized responses from over 60,900 unique employees since January 2020. Data analyzed includes more than 2.61 million self-reported eNPS scores. The most recent quarter’s data is added to the historical data set on the first day of the new quarter.

Industries included are healthcare, finance, construction, travel and hospitality, nonprofit, restaurant, food, and beverage, education, and technology.

Further demographics included are company region, company headcount, and average employee tenure at a company.