Mid-year reality check on work: Anxiety is up, trust is down, AI is everywhere
Mid-year reality check on work: Anxiety is up, trust is down, AI is everywhere
Publish Date: 2026-07-05 09:00:00
Source Domain: www.theglobeandmail.com
- Elevated Workplace Anxiety: Workplace anxiety remains high, characterized by ongoing “forever layoffs” rather than mass layoffs, resulting in persistent job insecurity and rising mentions of layoffs.
- Deteriorating Trust between Employees and Leadership: Trust between employees and leadership has deteriorated, exacerbated by economic uncertainty, restructuring, and poor workplace decisions, leading to lower leadership ratings and more negative descriptors used in reviews.
- Shifts in Return-to-Office Policies: Return-to-office policies continue to evolve, with hybrid work growing and remote employees experiencing the weakest workplace experience and work-life balance.
- Increased Concerns about Artificial Intelligence (AI): Discussions about AI have surged in employee reviews, reflecting growing concerns about AI’s impact on jobs, workloads, and long-term career prospects.
- Job Market Challenges for Job Seekers: The job market has become more challenging for job seekers; they are declining fewer offers, indicating a preference for stability over the ideal fit.
- Struggles for New Graduates: Despite wage growth, new graduates face an increasingly competitive job market and challenges in landing their first job.
These points encapsulate major findings from Glassdoor’s mid-year review of workplace trends based on U.S. data but also reflective of trends elsewhere.
