Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index: Worker sentiment sours
Daniel Zhao
Chief Economist at Glassdoor | Aug 26, 2025
Employee confidence dropped in August, bouncing around near the record low set in June, according to the latest data from the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index. The share of employees reporting a positive 6 month business outlook fell to 44.5% in August 2025, down from 46% in July and only slightly above the record low 44% in June. Workers remain unhappy about the state of the job market as fears about economic uncertainty and job security remain top of mind.
Employee confidence by industry
- White-collar industries saw a pullback in employee confidence in August with financial services (-1 percentage point month-over-month), information technology (-0.9 percentage points), insurance (-0.4 percentage points), management & consulting (-0.3 percentage points) seeing declines. Despite the hype around AI and data center investment, hiring in tech remains sluggish leaving workers unhappy.
- Employee confidence in health care declined slightly in August, falling 1.4 percentage points month-over-month. Health care employee confidence has dropped below 50%, a concerning sign for the industry that is the sole remaining pillar of strength for job gains across the labor market.
- Construction, repair & maintenance services (-5 percentage points year-over-year) and real estate (-2.8 percentage points) have seen large declines in employee confidence over the last year as higher interest rates crimp demand for housing.
Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index by Industry
| Industry | Aug 2024 | Jul 2025 | Aug 2025 | MoM | YoY |
| Aerospace & Defense | 54.0% | 52.1% | 50.1% | -2.0% | -3.9% |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 37.3% | 42.2% | 40.4% | -1.8% | 3.1% |
| Construction, Repair & Maintenance Services | 56.8% | 54.0% | 51.9% | -2.1% | -5.0% |
| Education | 44.3% | 42.4% | 40.7% | -1.7% | -3.6% |
| Energy, Mining & Utilities | 55.1% | 47.4% | 47.5% | 0.1% | -7.6% |
| Financial Services | 53.6% | 53.9% | 52.9% | -1.0% | -0.7% |
| Government & Public Administration | 44.1% | 36.7% | 39.4% | 2.8% | -4.7% |
| Healthcare | 51.1% | 49.2% | 47.7% | -1.4% | -3.3% |
| Hotels & Travel Accommodation | 42.5% | 48.3% | 50.0% | 1.7% | 7.5% |
| Human Resources & Staffing | 59.8% | 54.0% | 53.9% | -0.1% | -5.9% |
| Information Technology | 53.9% | 50.4% | 49.5% | -0.9% | -4.4% |
| Insurance | 53.5% | 55.0% | 54.5% | -0.4% | 1.1% |
| Legal | 57.6% | 55.5% | 55.7% | 0.2% | -1.9% |
| Management & Consulting | 50.4% | 46.2% | 45.9% | -0.3% | -4.5% |
| Manufacturing | 44.3% | 40.8% | 40.7% | -0.2% | -3.6% |
| Media & Communication | 46.3% | 46.0% | 43.8% | -2.2% | -2.5% |
| Nonprofit & NGO | 49.0% | 42.1% | 42.6% | 0.5% | -6.4% |
| Personal Consumer Services | 38.4% | 40.1% | 40.4% | 0.3% | 2.0% |
| Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology | 40.4% | 38.8% | 36.7% | -2.2% | -3.8% |
| Real Estate | 57.9% | 56.0% | 55.0% | -1.0% | -2.8% |
| Restaurants & Food Service | 40.2% | 38.6% | 41.2% | 2.5% | 1.0% |
| Retail & Wholesale | 39.4% | 38.5% | 38.2% | -0.3% | -1.2% |
| Telecommunications | 44.2% | 43.4% | 43.3% | -0.1% | -0.9% |
| Transportation & Logistics | 49.1% | 47.0% | 46.4% | -0.7% | -2.8% |
Note: Industry-level data is the three-month trailing average of the index. MoM & YoY are percentage point changes.
Employee confidence by seniority
Employee confidence has improved ever so slightly for mid level employees in recent months, rising 1.4 percentage points month-over-month in August, while entry level employees saw no change in their confidence level. Senior level employees saw the largest month-over-month decline in employee confidence in August, falling 2.9 percentage points. Over the last year, senior level employees have seen employee confidence fall 3.4 percentage points, while falling slightly less for mid level employees (-2.1 percentage points) and entry level employees (-0.3 percentage points). Concern from senior level employees is notable because it may point to future pullbacks in hiring and investment plans.
Methodology
The Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index is a new report that provides a real-time pulse on the economy from the lens of employees. As one of the world’s leading sites for insights on jobs and companies, Glassdoor collects tens of thousands of employee ratings of their employers’ six-month business outlook (rated as “positive”, “neutral” or “negative”) each month.
The index is the share of U.S. full-time and part-time employees who report a positive six-month business outlook for their employer. The index is reweighted to account for changes in the platform and by industry to match a nationally representative mix of employee ratings by industry. Data presented at the industry and seniority level are three-month trailing averages.
Data for August 2025 is updated through August 20, 2025. In subsequent updates, we will revise partial or preliminary data from previous months.
To read more about the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index, please read our launch paper.
An Excel file containing the Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index data is available here.
Daniel Zhao
Daniel Zhao is Chief Economist at Glassdoor. On Glassdoor's Economic Research team, he has conducted research using Glassdoor's unique data on a variety of topics affecting job seekers and employers ranging from the health of the job market to pay transparency to employee engagement & retention. His work has been cited in publications like the New York Times, the Harvard Business Review and more. Prior to joining the Economic Research team, he also worked on improving the user experience for Glassdoor’s consumer jobs product and mobile app. He holds a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and economics from Harvard College.
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