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The Edelman Trust Institute’s 2026 Trust Barometer should worry anyone paying attention, but it also hands businesses a competitive advantage, if they’ll seize it.
The annual survey of nearly 34,000 people across 28 countries found that Americans and citizens in most other developed countries continue to become more insular, trusting what and who is close and distrusting what’s distant.
The level to which many are retreating inward has devastating societal consequences, but the business community is a bright spot.
Employers are trusted by 78% of workers globally. Business as a broader institution comes in at 64%. Government? Just 53%. Media? 54%.
The report calls it “insularity” — a retreat into tight circles of people who think, look and vote alike. Seven in 10 respondents said they are hesitant or unwilling to
trust those different from them.
We’re seeing the glaring, societywide repercussions of this trend, but Edelman’s report helped me see it as a workforce problem.
It found 42% of employees would rather switch departments than report to a manager with different values. Another 34% said they’d put less effort into a project
led by someone with different political beliefs. When companies are asking more of fewer people, that friction is expensive.
Arkansas’ economy and population are diversifying. The companies that figure out how to make differences productive — and a well-rounded set of backgrounds is undoubtedly a good thing for any business — rather than corrosive will have an edge.
The Edelman data suggests several strategies for employers: promoting a shared identity and culture (82% said this would be effective), building teams that make people with different values work together (81%), and providing training on constructive dialogue amid conflict (80%).
People aren’t interested in lectures about diversity; they want conditions conducive to working together with those who are different. That’ll take more than a cheap workplace training video.
The survey also found the trust gap between high-income and low-income workers has more than doubled since 2012. In the United States, the gap between high-income and low-income trust stands at 26 points — among the widest of any country measured.
When lower-income workers perceive that institutions are brokering trust well, their overall institutional trust jumps significantly.
The report also found that 35% of respondents said the best thing a business can do on a divisive social issue is encourage cooperation on solutions without taking a side — more than double those who said a company should simply support their personal position.
Businesses are starting from a good place. They are often the most trusted institution in their workers’ lives. The question is whether they’ll spend that capital wisely — building the kind of workplaces where differences drive better decisions rather than dysfunction.
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