Leap Trends · Culture · Trust
Briefing
Trust in employers and other institutions
- Employer as trust builder
- Polarisation
- Trust in leadership
Edelman finds across 28 countries that people are retreating into their own circles, and that only their own employer still scores above half as a builder of trust (58 per cent). Inside the organisation that trust is thin: in the US, one in five employees trusts their own leadership.
This briefing has not been updated for more than three months. Check the figures against the source before you use them.
Compiled with AI from public sources, with the source for every figure. Key figures labelled Checked have been compared with the source by a person. How that works
Key figures
- 58%say their own employer does a good job of building trust; 39% say so of government (33,938 respondents, 28 countries).Statista (based on the Edelman Trust Barometer 2026)Not yet checked
- 7 in 10hesitate or refuse to trust someone with different values or different sources of information.Lewis Silkin (Future of Work Hub)Not yet checked
- 32%believe the next generation will be better off than the current one.SpotMediaNot yet checked
- 20%of US employees trust their organisation's leadership (May 2026); 16% say leadership communicates well.GallupNot yet checked
What the sources say
Between 25 October and 26 November 2025, Edelman surveyed 33,938 adults in 28 countries and presented the results in Davos in January. The picture is of a society turning inwards. Seven in ten people hesitate or refuse to trust someone with different values or different sources of information. A third (32 per cent) believe the next generation will be better off. The trust gap between high and low earners widened from 6 points in 2012 to 15 in 2026, and two thirds of employees fear that trade policy and tariffs will hit their company and their job. The report warns that differences left unaddressed will bring productivity at work to a halt.
Against that background, one institution stands out. More than three quarters of respondents say institutions have a duty to build trust between groups. Asked who does this well, government scores 39 per cent and none of the other institutions reaches half. People’s own employer scores 58 per cent, with the smallest gap between what people expect and what they get. Business is the only institution seen worldwide as both competent and ethical.
That is the outside view. Inside the organisation, Gallup finds in the United States that 20 per cent of employees trust their organisation’s leadership (May 2026) and that 16 per cent think that leadership communicates well (August 2025). Those who strongly agree are 3.7 times as likely to be engaged and 61 per cent less likely to feel burned out. In October 2026 BCG compared 645 CEOs with 500 employees: almost 90 per cent of the CEOs think employees trust leadership, while 46 per cent of employees say they do. The briefing Trust and culture as seen by executives and by employees goes into this in more depth.
The two surveys ask about different things. Edelman measures trust in the employer as an institution, alongside government, media and NGOs. Gallup measures trust in the leadership of one’s own organisation.
In the Netherlands, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) sees the same picture for government. According to its Social Cohesion and Wellbeing survey, published on 12 May 2026, 21 per cent of people aged 15 and over had a great deal or a fair amount of trust in politicians in 2025, and 25 per cent in the Dutch House of Representatives, the lowest level since the series began in 2012. Civil servants scored 47 per cent and the municipal council 55 per cent. CBS does not ask about people’s own employer, so a direct comparison with the Edelman figures cannot be made.
How solid is this? Four institutions published measurements in 2026 that point the same way, but the sources that could be opened cover only this year’s edition; Edelman’s multi-year series on the employer as the most trusted institution could not be viewed directly. The figures on trust inside the organisation are American. A localised Dutch Edelman report exists but could not be opened either.
For the leadership team
If the employer is the last place where people with different values still trust each other, polarisation from outside will find its way in. The question for the leadership team is whether the organisation can carry that conversation: does leadership know where the fault lines run in its own workforce, and who keeps quiet in front of it?
Sources
- Boston Consulting GroupForty Percent of Employees Say Their CEO Isn't Transparent Enough on AI
CEOs must be realistic in their words and consistent in their actions.
- CBSVertrouwen in politici en Tweede Kamer in 2025 laagst sinds 2012
In 2025 had 21 procent van de 15-plussers heel veel of tamelijk veel vertrouwen in politici.
- GallupGlobal Indicator: Leadership & Management
As of May 2026, 20% of U.S. employees said they trust the leadership of their organization.
- Statista (based on the Edelman Trust Barometer 2026) · Anna FleckEmployers Seen as Most Effective Trust Builders
- SpotMediaEdelman Trust Barometer 2026: societies are retreating into isolation as business remains the only trusted institution
- Lewis Silkin (Future of Work Hub)Edelman Trust Barometer 2026
The report warns that if left unaddressed, unmitigated differences will stall workplace productivity
We summarise in our own words and quote no more than one sentence per source. Read the original: there is more in it. How we use sources.
How this briefing has been updated
Title now describes the topics; previously “The employer is the last institution people still trust” (AI)
First draft based on the Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 (via Lewis Silkin, SpotMedia and Statista; edelman.com itself could not be opened), Gallup and BCG. (AI)