Employers Seen as Most Effective Trust Builders

Global trust in traditional institutions has weakened, according to the 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer. Among people who say that recent events have impacted their confidence in institutions, net trust in leaders of national governments dropped by 16 percentage points, trust in major news organizations fell by 11 points and trust in foreign business leaders declined by 5 points. But the picture isn’t entirely negative. Even though trust is declining in some spheres, it has increased among more immediate, local circles, with neighbors, family and friends (+11 p.p.), coworkers (+11 p.p.) and CEOs (among employees, +9 p.p.), all seeing net increases. Edelman interprets this pattern to show that as fears rise, trust becomes increasingly localised.

The 2026 edition of the Barometer, which surveyed 33,938 adults across 28 countries from October 25 to November 26, 2025, also found that while people are becoming more insular, there is hope, as people generally recognize the trend to be problematic and want change.

Data shows that employers could be well positioned to help build trust between disparate groups. As the following chart shows, over 75 percent of respondents believe institutions, including business, media, NGOs, governments and their personal employer, have an obligation to help bridge divides and foster trust. However, perceptions of how well these institutions are performing vary widely. While governments fare worst, with only 39 percent of global respondents saying their government is doing a good job at healing divides, the media, NGOs and business all fall below the halfway mark too. Respondents view their own employers more positively, however, with 58 percent saying their company does well at building trust. While there is still room for improvement, employers also showed the smallest gap between expectations and performance.

Looking ahead, respondents were also asked what strategies institutions should use to facilitate trust building. For employers, the 28-country average showed broad agreement that companies should promote a shared identity and culture so that employees are reminded of what unites them rather than divides them (82 percent); build teams that require cooperation across differing values (81 percent) and provide mandatory training in constructive dialogue (80 percent).

When asked about government actions, 80 percent said officials should avoid rhetoric that blames or vilifies groups and 79 percent said governments should require politicians to engage in civil discourse. For the media, respondents supported action on de-escalation and balanced coverage. Eight in ten said the media should give equal time to different viewpoints on major issues and avoid exaggerated or fear-inducing headlines. When it comes to businesses, around seven in ten (68 percent) said businesses should partner with unexpected organizations to initiate cross-cultural or cross-political conversations.

Among respondents who said they already trust someone who differs from themselves, around half (49 percent) said this was due to the other person having “an open mind and not trying to change me”, as 46 percent said that “they are transparent about how they differ from me”.