Shrinking Trust in Company Leadership A Potential Red Flag as U.S. Worker Confidence Index™ Sees Small Bounce Back in Q2

PHILADELPHIA, PA – August 11, 2022 – As the economy remains in flux with concerns about inflation affecting nearly all Americans, the U.S. Worker Confidence Index™ (WCI) saw only a small boost in Q2 2022, increasing 1.5 points from 101.9 to 103.4 compared to Q1. The WCI, a survey of U.S. workers from HRO Today Magazine and Yoh, the leading international talent and outsourcing company owned by Day & Zimmermann, gauges full-time workers’ perceptions of four key aspects of worker confidence: perceived likelihood of job loss, perceived likelihood of a promotion, perceived likelihood of a raise and overall trust in company leadership.

The minor jump in the WCI was led by a significant increase in perceived job security, which rose 11.9 points from 85.3 in Q1 to 96.4 in Q2. However, nearly all of the gains delivered by the increase in perceived job security were counterbalanced by a considerable decrease in trust in company leadership, which fell 7.0 points from 105.5 in Q1 to 98.5 in Q2. Prior to the most recent quarter, trust in company leadership had not fallen below 100 points since Q3 2017. Perceived likelihood of a promotion and perceived likelihood of a raise saw modest increases and decreases, respectively. Perceived likelihood of a promotion jumped 2.0 points from 113.5 in Q1 to 115.5 in Q2. Perceived likelihood of a raise fell just 1.0 points from 104.2 in Q1 to 103.2 in Q2.

While the WCI did see a minor increase in Q2 2022, it still trails year-over-year data by a fairly wide margin – 103.4 in Q2 2022 versus 111.7 in Q2 2021. Likely, concerns about the economy, job market and inflation continue to stoke employment concerns coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As we have seen over the past two-plus years, Americans continue to remain wary about their employment and job prospects coming out of the pandemic. And while many factors that impact these feelings are out of employers’ hands, there are certainly tangible steps they can take to alleviate some of workers’ concerns in the workplace – specifically when it comes to trust in company leadership,” said Emmett McGrath, President, Yoh.

“The so-called ‘Great Resignation’ has not come from workers simply finding better jobs or leaving for higher wages. A not-insignificant component of the heavy turnover is due to workers being unsatisfied with company leadership’s demands and culture changes coming out of the pandemic – especially due to return-to-office requirements. As we move forward, it’s imperative that leaders take a more active role in monitoring their workforce’s expectations, identify issues and make necessary changes to assure workers that leadership is looking out for their best interests.”

other key takeaways from the 2022 q2 Worker Confidence INDEX™ include:

• Job security index returns to near pre-pandemic levels; women are more secure in their jobs than men.

  • Prior to its Q2 jump, the job security index had been relatively low and steady since Q2 2020. Its position in Q2 2022 is the highest the job security index has been since Q4 2019 when it hit 102.4. Women also remain more secure about their jobs than men, with 10.5% of women feeling its likely they will lose their job in the next 12 months versus 17.8% of men.

• Older workers finally seeing potential raises on the horizon.
  
  • The likelihood of a raise index stayed relatively steady in Q2, however, in previous reports, optimism in receiving a raise declined as workers aged and obtained senior positions. That has changed this quarter. In Q2 2022, workers aged 45 to 54 and 55 to 64 saw an increase in confidence of a raise by 7% and 7.5%, respectively.

• Big declines in trust in company leadership due to younger workers losing faith in the C-suite.
  
  • While trust in company leadership fell below 100 for the first time in nearly five years, that precipitous fall was a direct result of younger workers losing trust in leaders. Trust among workers ages 18-24 fell 6.5 percentage points (57.3% in Q1 to 50.8% in Q2) and among workers ages 25-34 fell 7.2 percentage points (56.9% in Q1 to 49.7% in Q2). Meanwhile, trust among workers ages 35-44 increased 3.8 points (56.7% in Q1 to 60.5% in Q2), trust among workers ages 45-54 increased 2.2 points (49.1% in Q1 to 51.3% in Q2) and trust among workers ages 55-64 increased 1.5 points (34.0% in Q1 to 35.5% in Q2). Interestingly, trust among the historically untrusting workers ages 65+ decreased by more than 10 points (27.8% in Q1 to 17.6% in Q2).

To view the entire study, please visit, https://www.yoh.com/hro-today-employee-well-being-study.