If you’re an American worker, you’re probably worried about the future of your company. You’re also are becoming more concerned about the overall U.S. business environment.
Those are the deteriorating opinions found by Glassdoor, a job site and online work community. In the approximately 70,000 responses that make up its May survey, 44% of workers expressed a positive six-month outlook for their companies—the lowest level recorded in the survey’s nearly 10-year history.
The downward trend began in March 2022, and coincided with inflation rising to a 40-year high and the Federal Reserve launching a series of interest rate hikes to combat rising prices.
Economists will also get a preliminary reading on consumer sentiment Friday from the University of Michigan. Analysts predict it could improve slightly after it returned to levels not seen since inflation peaked at 9% in June 2022. On Wednesday, we’ll learn if May’s inflation rate held steady at 2.3%.
Employees’ confidence in businesses falls to new low
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In an email to USA TODAY, Daniel Zhao, Glassdoor lead economist, said workers are “increasingly disillusioned with their employers” as they’ve been managing heavier workloads since 2022.
“Many employees refer to several rounds of layoffs creating anxiety about when the next round will come or leaving teams understaffed and overworked,” Zhao said. “This is also contributing to the feeling of economic uncertainty and anxiety among workers.”
In May, employee reviews referencing layoffs rose 9% from April, while mentions of “uncertainty” surged 63% compared to the same time last year. “Uncertainty isn’t solely tied to policy changes, though some reviews do explicitly cite them,” said Zhao.
Reviews with ‘layoffs’ and ‘uncertainty’ rise
Another measure – the Zeta Economic Index – looks at trillions of digital interactions of 245 million people in the United States. Among the factors leading to the decline: Job market sentiment has dropped nearly 9% since last May.
Still, Americans’ outlooks vary significantly across industries. Some of the more pessimistic views appear tied to tariff-related developments. Confidence among construction and logistics workers dropped the most since April—down 2.6%—as tariff front-running has slowed. Meanwhile, manufacturing employees remain less optimistic than they were a year ago.
Manufacturing workers’ concerns were echoed in a separate monthly report released last week. The Institute for Supply Management’s May survey showed that U.S. manufacturing contracted for the third consecutive month.
Which employees are most, least confident about their companies
The Glassdoor report highlights another troubling trend: Employee confidence among entry-level workers fell to a record low of 43.4 in May. While entry-level employees have historically reported lower confidence in their companies’ outlooks, the gap between them and top leaders grew to about 18 percentage points last month.
A recent report from Oxford Economics, a global economic forecasting company, found earlier in June that recent college graduates’ opportunities – especially in tech jobs – have been limited by the rise of artificial intelligence and uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariff policies.
How employee confidence differs by career level
Less scientifically, Zhao said Glassdoor members’ posts and comments are also pointing to greater uncertainty and burnout among U.S. workers:
◾ Business health: “It’s not uncommon to hear whispers of unpaid invoices, delayed payments or urgent scrambles just to keep essential services running.”
◾ More layoffs: “The company is facing ongoing challenges, and there have been a number of quiet layoffs.”
◾ Burnout: “People are choosing to leave the company with nothing lined up simply because we are all so burnt out, and in this economy, I think that speaks volumes.”
