American workers' confidence in their employers' future prospects has fallen to another record low, according to Glassdoor's latest Employee Confidence Index. This marks the third record-low reading of 2026 as layoffs continue across multiple sectors. Hiring has also remained sluggish in many white-collar fields.
At the same time, President Donald Trump's approval ratings have fallen to some of the weakest levels of either of his terms, and economic dissatisfaction could be a major political challenge heading into the 2026 midterm elections. The job market is as turbulent as ever, so current employees have either already been affected by a round of layoffs or saw their colleagues be laid off, Jan Hendrik von Ahlen, managing director and career expert at JobLeads, told Newsweek. When employees become less confident about their employers' prospects, they may reduce spending and delay major purchases.
However, they also become less likely to change jobs and often increasingly worry about layoffs. Political pressure is also mounting on the White House. Trump's approval rating has sunk to historic lows for his presidency, and economic concerns and rising costs are said to be key factors driving this voter dissatisfaction.
A Wall Street Journal survey found Trump's approval rating at 37 percent, the lowest pre-midterm reading recorded in the newspaper's polling dating back to 1990. Glassdoor Chief Economist Daniel Zhao said that employee confidence fell to a new record low in September, marking the third time this year the index has reached an all-time low. And even workers who are in a job are feeling stuck without any outside options to find a better fit,” Zhao told Newsweek.
With slow hiring preventing workers from finding a better job on the open market, workers are increasingly sitting tight and stewing.” According to Glassdoor, employee confidence, which measures the share of workers who report a positive six-month business outlook for their employer, fell to 42.9 percent from 44.5 percent in the September report. Are people getting laid off? Does my job feel more or less secure than it did a year ago?” Michael Ryan, a finance expert and the founder of MichaelRyanMoney.com, told Newsweek.
Workers are becoming increasingly pessimistic about future business conditions as layoffs remain elevated in several white-collar industries. Mentions in Glassdoor reviews of layoffs grew 13 percent in the last year, meanwhile the mention of uncertainty and AI grew by 84 and 164 percent respectively. The question ‘will AI kill my job?’ has been asked millions of times at this point,” Hendrik von Ahlen said.
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