Employee confidence has hit its lowest recorded level. New Glassdoor data identifies five forces driving worker disengagement – and each one carries direct implications for HR strategy.

At the University of North Carolina Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise’s Frontiers of Business Conference in October 2026, Daniel Zhao, Chief Economist at Glassdoor in San Francisco, presented the data behind that conclusion. According to the September 2026 Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index, just 42.9% of employees hold a positive six-month outlook for their employer’s business – the third record low this year.

Five forces behind the crisis  

1. Workers feel stuck

The quits rate stood at 1.9% in August 2026, down from 3.0% in April 2022. The hires rate dropped to 3.3% from 4.6% in July 2021, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS). Workers cannot easily leave and the jobs they might move into are not opening up.

Glassdoor data shows career opportunities ratings dropped 0.27 stars in 2026 year to date versus 2022. Job offer decline rates fell 5.1 points between January and April 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.

2. Layoff anxiety is outpacing actual layoffs

Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS data for August 2026 recorded around 1.6 million layoffs and discharges. But Glassdoor review data shows layoff mentions grew 6% year over year in September 2026. White-collar workers are bearing disproportionate exposure.  

The layoff rate in the information industry hit 1.7% in 2026 year to date, above the 1.4% average in 2019, per Glassdoor’s analysis.

Company ratings remain suppressed for up to 24 months as layoffs – AI layoffs, in particular – shatter trust in corporate leadership. Second and third rounds cut deeper than the first.

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