Hybrid work continues to redefine how employees collaborate and build trust with leaders.
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Mentions of “misalignment” in employee reviews about senior leadership surged 149% from 2024 to 2025, while “disconnect” rose 24% and “distrust” climbed 26%, according to the newly released 2026 Worklife Trends Report from Glassdoor. At the same time, small layoffs affecting fewer than 50 workers increased from 38% of all layoffs in 2015 to 51% in 2025. Together, these workplace trends signal a major realignment in how employees view leadership and organizational trust.
After years of transformation, 2026 is emerging as a reset year, one defined by new expectations, tighter budgets, and evolving power dynamics between employers and employees. Professionals who understand what drives these changes will be better equipped to navigate what is next. Here are the top six workplace trends to watch.
1. The Great Employee-Leader Disconnect
Trust in leadership has hit a breaking point. The ratings of senior management on Glassdoor have dropped well below pandemic peaks as mentions of “misalignment,” “disconnect” and “distrust” surge in reviews. “Workers are feeling whiplash from the emotional rollercoaster of the last six years,” says Daniel Zhao, chief economist for Glassdoor. “At the height of the pandemic, leaders were transparent and vulnerable. Now many have reverted to corporate-speak, and workers no longer feel like their leaders have their backs,” he says. With less leverage than they had amid the Great Resignation, employees are watching how leaders handle layoffs, return-to-office mandates and AI adoption, often at the expense of trust and morale. This workplace trend underscores a growing need for leadership transparency in 2026.
2. The “Forever Layoff” Is The New Normal
Small but steady layoffs are the new normal. One of the most striking workplace trends is the move from large-scale cuts to continuous smaller reductions, a pattern Glassdoor calls the “forever layoff.” These rolling cuts may not make headlines, but they create ongoing uncertainty and anxiety. Mentions of layoffs and job insecurity in late 2025 were already higher than in early 2020. While companies may view these cuts as a subtle way to manage payroll, the cultural cost is significant. The “forever layoff” fuels burnout, disengagement and distrust, and its impact is likely to persist into 2026.
3. Slow-Motion Return To Office Continues
Career growth is becoming harder to achieve from home. Average career opportunity ratings on Glassdoor fell from 4.1 in 2020 to 3.5 in 2025 for remote and hybrid workers. Despite high-profile return-to-office mandates over the past year, the share of remote workdays remained mostly unchanged. Still, a subtler force is at play, the fear of being out of sight and out of mind. Glassdoor found clear differences among employees who mentioned remote or hybrid work in their reviews.
Career opportunity ratings saw the sharpest decline in ratings.Work-life balance ratings remain higher but the gap is narrowing.Overall ratings declined versus those who did not mention remote or hybrid work.
As employers prioritize in-office employees for promotions, professionals may need to choose between flexibility and visibility in 2026. This workplace trend highlights the trade-offs that continue to define hybrid work.
4. The Effects Of AI Remain Limited For Now
AI anxiety is high, but real disruption is still limited. The analysis by Glassdoor found that employee satisfaction in jobs with high AI exposure declined only slightly since 2022. Some jobs, like translators and software engineers, have seen sharper declines, but they represent a small portion of the workforce. And while most organizations are experimenting with AI, few have figured out how to integrate it effectively. Expect 2026 to bring a gradual rather than dramatic AI transformation, shaping one of the most closely watched workplace trends of the year.
5. Job Seekers Are Taking What They Can Get
Selectivity is now giving way to caution in the job market. According to Glassdoor, job applicants were 12% less likely to reject offers in 2025 than in 2023. With hiring rates at a 10-year low, more professionals are saying yes to roles they might have once declined. Roughly three out of four offers reported on Glassdoor were accepted, and decline rates fell to their lowest level since 2020. The result is a growing sense of stagnation. Workers who feel stuck in jobs that are not a good fit may struggle to stay engaged, slowing both career and income growth in 2026.
6. Early-Career Wages Are Finally Recovering
There is one bright spot as pay for new graduates finally catches up. After inflation eroded purchasing power from 2020 to 2022, wages for early-career workers are projected to surpass 2020 levels in 2026. Real wages were down 4.1% from 2020 to 2022 but have since rebounded as wage growth (4.3%) outpaced inflation (3.0%) over the past three years. However, the recovery is not uniform. Cities leading the way in early-career wage growth since 2020 include:
Provo, Utah: +40.2%Boise, Idaho: +30.5%Orlando, Florida: +30.3%
By contrast, traditional high-salary markets like San Francisco saw only 19.9% growth. For young professionals, smaller cities may now offer better opportunities to earn and advance, a positive workplace trend in an otherwise uncertain economy.
Navigating The Workplace Challenges Ahead
The workplace trends shaping 2026 point to ongoing change and a growing divide between employees and leaders. Persistent job insecurity and trade-offs between flexibility and advancement are forcing professionals to rethink what success looks like. “Leaders need to pay attention to the widening gap between themselves and workers,” Zhao says. “That disconnect risks stoking a worsening crisis of disengagement in 2026.”
Still, there’s reason for optimism. Wages are recovering, new cities are emerging as opportunity hubs and AI’s negative impact, at least for now, remains modest. For professionals, the key will be to stay adaptable by building new skills, developing AI literacy and proactively managing career growth in a rapidly changing environment.
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