Workplace Research
Trust in Managers and Co-Workers Just Hit Record Lows. The Cause Is How Change Is Being Handled.
Employers became the most trusted institution in many people’s lives during the pandemic. Edelman’s 2026 Trust at Work report, a survey of 10,018 employees across 10 countries, says that position is now slipping. Trust in “my employer” fell to 74%, down five points from 79% in August 2024 and the first decline since 2021.
The bigger drops are closer to home. Trust in direct managers fell from 79% to 72%. Trust in co-workers fell from 82% to 73%. Trust in the CEO fell from 70% to 66%. Each is a record low in Edelman’s data series. The report points to one thing driving it: how employees are experiencing workplace transformation.
Almost Everyone Is Living Through a Transformation
Three in four employees (76%) say they experienced at least one major workplace transformation in the past twelve months, and more than four in ten experienced three or more. The most common was the implementation of AI, reported by 53%, followed by strategy shifts at 47%.
It is not landing evenly. More than 90% of executives report going through a transformation, compared with 86% of mid-level managers and 61% of associates. And when asked how it went, one in three employees overall said their experience was not positive. Associates were three times as likely as executives to say so: 49% against 17%. Mid-level employees sat at 26%.
That gap matters for anyone programming a leadership meeting. The people in the room deciding how to talk about change are, statistically, the people having the best experience of it.
The Experience of Change Is the Dividing Line
The most useful part of the report is the comparison between employees who had a positive transformation experience and those who had a negative one. The gaps are large enough to change how a planner thinks about a change-related keynote.
| Among employees whose transformation experience was | Positive | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| Trust their CEO | 82% | 49% |
| Trust their manager | 85% | 60% |
| Trust co-workers with different values | 77% | 50% |
| Will go above what is expected to help the company succeed | 83% | 57% |
| Committed to a long-term career at the company | 83% | 51% |
| Embrace increased AI use at work | 40% | 18% |
Employees are not opposed to change, Edelman concludes. What erodes trust is change that arrives as heavier workloads, uncertainty or division. When people are given clarity about what comes next, room to adapt and a chance to grow, the same change can raise effort and loyalty.
The Concerns Underneath
The report sits on top of growing anxiety. 77% of employees globally worry about losing their jobs to factors such as automation, offshoring, insufficient training or tariffs, up four points since 2024. Six in ten fear they are being monitored by their employer without consent. And employees say they are less comfortable discussing societal issues they disagree on with colleagues than they were in 2022, which helps explain why trust in co-workers fell as sharply as it did.
Richard Edelman’s own recommendation is that transformation be presented as an opportunity for productivity and wellbeing rather than as disruption or an “AI revolution,” backed by honest communication, a real commitment to reskilling, employee agency and empathetic leadership.
What This Means for Your Next Leadership Meeting or All-Hands
Program for the people having the worst experience
Associates are three times as likely as executives to describe transformation negatively. A session that speaks only to the strategic logic of a change will land well with the leadership table and poorly with everyone else. Ask your speaker how they will address the people living with the extra workload, not just the people who approved it. Our all-hands and town hall speakers page covers this format.
Invest in the managers
Trust in direct managers swings 25 points depending on how change was experienced. Managers are where transformation either becomes credible or falls apart, which makes a manager-focused session one of the highest-leverage things you can program. This connects to Gallup’s finding on AI adoption and manager support.
Skip the “revolution” framing
If AI is part of what your people are absorbing, the evidence says a keynote that celebrates disruption is the wrong tone. Look for speakers who connect change to day-to-day productivity, wellbeing and growth. See leading through AI change and change management speakers.
Mind the capacity limit
With more than four in ten employees absorbing three or more major changes in a year, this connects directly to the change absorption gap: leaders expect three to four changes a year while employees can realistically take on one to two.
Source: 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer Special Report: Trust at Work, released October 6, 2026. Online survey of 10,018 employees in Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, the UAE, the UK and the US, conducted August 14 to 31, 2026. Comparisons by transformation experience from Richard Edelman’s October 6, 2026 analysis of the findings.
Speakers on Trust and Change
Leading your people through a transformation?
Tell us what has changed this year and who will be in the room. We will match you with a speaker who addresses how the change is being experienced, not just why it was necessary.