US workers are becoming gloomier about the near-term business outlook for their employers, according to a new index.
Employee confidence in the six-month outlook for their employer fell to 47.6% in July from 53.4% a year ago, according to data from Glassdoor, a website where current and former employees anonymously review companies.
Business Outlook Stumbles
Employees' outlook for their employers undergoes a meaningful deterioration
Source: Glassdoor
Note: Share of employees who believe their employers have a positive business outlook over the next 6 months
The Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index has tracked sentiment since 2016. The results were made publicly available for the first time on Monday.
Broadly, the index shows a steady increase in confidence since 2016 — with some interruptions at the start of the pandemic — toward a peak in early 2022. Since then, it’s fallen back to the lowest level since the survey began, with a majority of employees becoming pessimistic.
Within firms, sentiment has declined the most among mid-senior-level employees, falling 6.2 percentage points in the year through July 2023. By contrast, among both higher-level and entry-level employees there’s been seen little change over the last year.
“This may reflect that in particular, mid-level managers may be feeling the squeeze as businesses pull back on pandemic-era expansion,” according to the report.
Directors and executives have a much rosier view, with roughly two-thirds saying they have a positive outlook for their firm.
By industry, sentiment reversed in several sectors. Recent waves of layoffs in the information industry drove a large drop in confidence.
Employee Confidence Index by Industry
The information sector has seen the steepest drop since July 2022, while sentiment in the construction sector improved
Source: Glassdoor
Two years ago, more than 60% of technology workers had a positive outlook but that fell to 48.6% last month. Manufacturing has seen a decline of 8 percentage points since July 2022, and other industries where confidence has fallen include professional and business services and finance.