The worst of the layoff wave has passed, HR pros indicated in a recent survey, but employee trust in leadership is a little worse for the wear.

While 29% of the 200 human resource and business leaders surveyed said their companies are currently conducting or planning to conduct layoffs, that number is down from 45% this spring, according to an Oct. 17 report from Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. Likewise, only 4% said they anticipate the need for future layoffs, down from 8%.

“We know that many companies have conducted layoffs during the first three quarters of the year, since announcements are up 198% over the same period last year,” Andrew Challenger, workplace and labor expert and senior vice president of the firm, said in a statement.

“It seems a lot of the cost-cutting companies planned was carried out prior to the fourth quarter,” he said.

Still, about 46% said they believe a recession is coming, and 24% are actively planning for one. But employers may be cutting costs in other ways. Most said they’re reducing business travel. Some said they’ve implemented a hiring freeze, and others are redeploying workers internally.

Trust in leadership hasn’t emerged from those efforts unscathed, however. Fifty-six percent of respondents said their employees have a favorable view of leadership — down from 65% in the spring. They pointed to inefficacy, inconsistency and poor communication as causes. Workers also are grappling with burnout and they attribute it to leadership, respondents said.

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