📊 What 3 Million Glassdoor Reviews Say About 2026’s Workforce

Hey HR Pros!

Glassdoor’s latest research highlights a workforce recalibrating its expectations in the face of “forever layoffs,” AI uncertainty, and a job market where fewer candidates are saying no to offers—even if the role’s not a great fit.

For HR leaders, this is a roadmap to the emerging risks and opportunities shaping employee sentiment right now.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 💬 New Report | $1.2 Trillion Says It’s Time to Fix Workplace Communication

• 😟 Layoff Anxiety Is Spreading — Here's What HR Can Do

• 🎙️ Featured HR Podcast | The HR Hub with Dr. Nita Chhinzer

• 📊 New Research by Glassdoor | What 3 Million Glassdoor Reviews Say About 2026’s Workforce

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 📰 Latest in HR News

• Walgreens eliminates paid holiday benefit for its hourly workers

• 3 in 10 firms plan to replace workers with AI next year, survey finds

• As hope for ACA aid fades, HR braces for benefits surge

• ACV Environmental Services claims ex-exec stole secrets, poached clients

💬 New Report | $1.2 Trillion Says It’s Time to Fix Workplace Communication

When employees get the type of communication they actually want, 80% say they feel more appreciated. And when it’s transparent? That number climbs — 84% for managers, and 89% in tech roles.

As expectations rise and employee loyalty becomes harder to earn, HR leaders can’t afford to treat communication as a soft skill.

Key Insights

• 📣 Transparent comms = loyalty insurance
  30% of employees would quit due to poor, unclear communication—honesty directly ties to retention and culture.

• 📊 Bad communication = $1.2 trillion leak
  Workplace miscommunication costs U.S. businesses $1.2 trillion per year—while good comms can lift productivity by 64%.

• 🎯 Employees crave training, feedback, and recognition
  From leaders and managers alike, these three themes dominate employee communication wish lists across departments.

• 🤝 46% value manager relationships over pay bumps
  Nearly half of employees prioritize strong manager relationships more than a 10% raise—but only 51% feel heard.

read the full 583-word article here

😟 Layoff Anxiety Is Spreading — Here's What HR Can Do

When one of the country’s largest employers slashes 15% of its workforce, employees everywhere take notice. And it's not just the high-profile layoffs that are fueling fear. Quiet, small-scale cuts — often under 50 people — are now more common and create just as much uncertainty, minus the headlines.

That fear is reshaping engagement, eroding trust, and pushing employees into self-protective mode.

Key Insights

• 📉 51% of layoffs now affect 50 or fewer employees
  These “rolling layoffs” avoid press but build internal cultures of fear, resentment, and second-guessing leadership’s stability.

• 🧠 Employees spot silence before strategy
  Low meeting engagement, cautious risk-taking, and LinkedIn updates can all signal deepening layoff anxiety across teams.

• 🗣️ Transparency isn’t oversharing—it’s clarity
  Employees can handle hard truths better than vague optimism. Clarity + empathy builds credibility and confidence in leadership.

• 👥 Managers are the frontline of trust
  Employees trust their direct leaders most—making manager communication the single most effective way to reduce fear fast.

read the full 644-word article here

HR LOLs

🎙️ Featured HR Podcast | The HR Hub with Dr. Nita Chhinzer

📊 New Research by Glassdoor | What 3 Million Glassdoor Reviews Say About 2026’s Workforce

As we head into 2026, HR leaders are navigating a fragile ecosystem: shrinking career optimism, trust on the decline, and layoffs becoming a slow drip rather than a splashy wave.

And while workers remain wary of AI and return-to-office shifts, the biggest signal of trouble might just be silence—fewer rejections of job offers, fewer questions in meetings, and fewer signs of engagement from the very people organizations are counting on to drive momentum forward.

Key Insights

• 📉 “Disconnect” mentions up 24% in reviews about leadership
  Words like miscommunication (+25%), distrust (+26%), and misalignment (+149%) are surging in employee feedback on leadership.

• 📦 51% of layoffs now affect <50 people—quiet cuts, loud consequences
  Smaller, rolling layoffs are more frequent, fueling chronic job insecurity and quietly weakening morale and retention.

• 🏢 Career opportunity ratings for remote workers fell from 4.1 to 3.5
  Remote and hybrid employees are seeing fewer promotions and less visibility—slowing career momentum and increasing pressure to RTO.

• 💰 Early-career workers’ real wages finally surpass 2020 levels
  Cities like Provo, Boise, and Charleston are leading in wage growth—offering grads surprising new hubs for early-career opportunity.

read the full 2,961-word article here