25.06.2026

New report reveals growing trust gap between employees and employers

A survey of more than 1,000 HR leaders and managers has revealed overall trust in the workplace between employees and senior leadership teams has fallen significantly over the last five years. Outplacement and HR specialist INTOO has revealed the findings in its annual Future World of Work report. The report takes an in-depth look at the relationship between HR leaders and managers across the UK in organisations employing 250 people or more. It provides an important nation-wide temperature check on the heart of UK working life every year.

With 70 per cent of all respondents agreeing employee trust in employers has eroded over the last five years, Owen Morgan Managing Director at INTOO (pictured above), said this emerging trust gap between HR leaders and managers should be a serious red flag to business leaders across the UK, and an opportunity to listen, learn and act now.

“Our new research paints a picture of a workforce and a broadchurch of HR professionals and managers at an inflection point,” Morgan said. “The foundational employment deal endures for most — but the trust that underpins it is fracturing. Burnout is driving unwanted attrition. The human skills most valued in the coming decade remain underdeveloped. And long-term strategic thinking continues to yield to short-term operational pressure.

“What this year’s research particularly adds to the picture is the systemic importance of the HR Leader–Manager gap. Across almost every measure, HR leaders are more optimistic than managers about the quality and impact of their people practices. This is not a minor calibration issue - it is a signal that HR strategy and management experience are diverging in ways that will undermine even the best-intentioned interventions.”

It is the first time in the report’s history that INTOO has explored the state of the psychological contract; the unwritten set of expectations and obligations which define how people relate to their employers.

What is driving this erosion of trust among UK workforces differs according to both HR leaders and managers. Managers blame pay and job security as the dominant reason (23 per cent), whereas HR leaders believe leadership credibility (17 per cent) and wellbeing deprioritisation (14 per cent) are the key drivers - pointing to a more systemic, cultural diagnosis.

Anecdotal evidence from the report captured a flavour of employee opinion in today’s offices with some stating: “I don’t trust my organisation or my manager any more. Constant redundancy exercises, increased workloads and pay freezes – I feel the reality of our situation is hidden from us at all times.”

Morgan added: “The relationship between employer and employee has never been more consequential, or more fragile. The organisations that will thrive over the next decade are those that treat trust not as a soft metric, but as a strategic asset.

“There is a profound tension at the heart of UK working life, and one that plays out differently depending on where you sit in the organisation. The near-identical agreement on trust erosion (70 per cent HR Leaders vs 69 per cent Managers) is striking — it represents genuine cross-organisational consensus that something has shifted.

“However, the 23.5-percentage-point gap on whether trust is currently strong reveals a significant perception gap. HR leaders are considerably more optimistic about the present state of trust than the managers who are living and working within it day-to-day.”

INTOO’s sixth edition of its Future World of Work series ‘The Loyalty Deficit’ can be viewed and downloaded in full at Future World of Work Report 2026 - INTOO UK & Ireland. Part of Gi Group Holding, one the world’s largest and fastest growing HR and recruitment providers, INTOO helps people move forward confidently after redundancy or dismissal, with tailored support and expert guidance.

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