In this Thought Leader Spotlight, I was joined by Mike Parsons, CEO of Fathom, to explore the growing Trust Recession and its impact on leadership, brand, and employee experience.

For decades, employers held a rare position of credibility. Even as trust in governments, media, and NGOs declined, employees continued to believe in their organisations. That era has ended. The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer shows employer trust falling globally for the first time in 26 years, with some markets recording declines of five to seven points in a single year – a sharp drop for a measure that usually shifts by just one or two.

This is more than a momentary dip. It is a defining challenge for organisations everywhere, reshaping how leaders must show up and how brands are experienced from the inside out.

What is causing this trust recession

A perfect storm of factors is at play. We discussed several of them:

  • Remote work divides – Employees adapted well to working from home, with 85% saying they were more productive. Yet 40% of leaders didn’t believe them (Microsoft Work Trend Index). This gap in perception quickly turned into a question of trust.
  • Remote monitoring – In some cases, companies went as far as introducing keystroke trackers, activity logs, and webcam monitoring. What started as a health necessity during the pandemic morphed into a debate over whether employees could be trusted when working unseen.
  • Layoffs despite record profits – Companies announced mass redundancies at the same time as reporting record profits, yet employees were left questioning why they were being laid off.
  • Broken promises – Many pandemic-era pledges about flexibility and career development were quietly withdrawn as return-to-office mandates came into force. Employees felt the ground shift beneath them, fuelling cynicism.
  • Fairness gaps – According to Great Place to Work, low-income workers report significantly lower levels of trust than high earners — a gap of 13 points. Perceptions of unfairness in pay, workload, and opportunity are eroding faith in leadership.
  • Discrimination fears – Global surveys show fears of discrimination (by race, gender, or age) have risen by 10–11 points since 2021. In markets where DEI budgets are being cut, this sends a clear signal to employees that trust is being undermined.
  • AI emergence and anxiety – For early-career talent, the entry-level jobs that once served as springboards for graduates are disappearing. Automation and AI are replacing many of these roles, leaving graduates uncertain about their future and adding to a sense of insecurity.

Why It Matters

The decline in trust is not just cultural, it has real financial and reputational consequences. High-trust organisations consistently outperform their peers, with research showing they can be up to four times stronger. By contrast, low-trust environments fuel toxic behaviours such as disengagement, quiet quitting, rage applying, job hugging, and even workplace pushback.

The message is clear: ignoring the trust recession isn’t neutral. It carries a direct cost to performance, culture, and reputation.

Rebuilding Trust: Leadership Actions

Trust cannot be rebuilt through messaging alone. Employees look for credibility – for leaders whose words and actions align. That means being honest, visible, and consistent in ways that employees experience every day.

Practical actions leaders can take include:

  • Tell the truth early – Employees can handle bad news; what erodes trust is silence or spin.
  • Admit mistakes – Owning errors openly builds resilience and credibility.
  • Close the communication gap – Create forums for dialogue and show what happens with feedback.
  • Be transparent and fair – Apply clear criteria for promotions, pay, and workload distribution.
  • Give people agency – Move away from micromanagement and involve employees in shaping change.
  • Honour commitments – Deliver on promises around flexibility, wellbeing, and career growth.
  • Stamp out toxicity quickly – Act decisively on bullying or discrimination at any level.

Taken together, these actions show employees that leaders are serious about rebuilding trust.

Watch the Replay and Access the White Paper

You can access both the full webinar replay and the white paper through our 💡👉EBA Learning Academy Spotlight library 👈💡. This growing resource hub includes all past and present Spotlights, designed to support leaders navigating today’s talent challenges.

If you would like to explore how these ideas apply in your organisation, please feel free to reach out to me at celeste@employerbrandingafrica.com or to Mike at mike@fathom.inc.