Trust After Layoff: What Surviving Employees Need From Leaders Now

Something has quietly broken in the manager-employee relationship—and the data is catching up to it. Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report finds that global employee engagement fell to 20% in 2025—its lowest level since the pandemic and the first back-to-back annual decline in the survey’s history—carrying an estimated $10 trillion productivity price tag. The sharpest drop belongs to managers themselves, whose engagement fell five points in a single year. For organizations navigating the compounded toll of repeated layoffs, restructuring and economic turbulence, these figures capture what employees have felt for years: that the people tasked with leading them are just as disengaged, overwhelmed and skeptical as they are. The 2026 Edelman Trust Barometer adds a sharper edge: Approximately 75% of employees say CEOs are obligated to bridge trust divides, yet only 44% say they actually do—a leadership credibility gap hiding in plain sight.

Understanding what it takes to close that gap is the focus of the Senior Executive HR Think Tank, a curated group of human resources leaders, talent strategists and executive advisors who bring decades of combined experience helping organizations navigate these challenges precisely. Their perspectives challenge easy answers and surface the specific, often uncomfortable actions that actually move the needle—from how layoffs are communicated in the first place to what leaders must do differently in the months and years that follow.

What emerges is both a reality check and a road map. Trust, they agree, is not rebuilt through all-hands announcements, perks rollouts or rebranded culture initiatives. It is rebuilt through sustained, transparent, behavior-consistent leadership—one honest conversation and one kept commitment at a time.

“Make small commitments and keep them. Grand pledges after restructuring ring hollow. Consistent follow-through on small things rebuilds credibility faster than any all-hands.”

– Ryan Austin, Founder and CEO of Cognota

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Trust Rebuilds Through Actions, Not Announcements

For Ryan Austin, Founder and CEO of Cognota, a learning operations platform that helps enterprise learning and development teams work smarter, the starting point is disarmingly direct: Be honest before you try to be inspiring. Employees who have lived through multiple rounds of cuts have developed finely tuned instincts for corporate spin, and they will recognize it immediately.

“Survivors of repeated cuts have finely tuned BS detectors,” Austin says. “Name what happened, own the impact, be specific about what’s different now.” He is equally pointed about sequencing: Stability must come before inspiration. “Clarity on role, manager and future must come before any culture initiative,” he adds. “Uncertainty, not hardship, is what breaks morale.”

Beyond communication, Austin points to agency as the central casualty of downsizing—and the most critical thing to restore. Layoffs strip employees of control over their circumstances, and no amount of messaging repairs that loss. But here’s what does: visible career paths, meaningful input into decisions and managers who publicly advocate for their teams.

“Make small commitments and keep them. Grand pledges after restructuring ring hollow. Consistent follow-through on small things rebuilds credibility faster than any all-hands.”

Austin also challenges organizations to rethink what they measure. “Measure psychological safety, not engagement scores,” he says. “Ask: Do people feel safe raising problems? That’s the real leading indicator.” His overarching conclusion is unsparing: “Trust rebuilds at the speed of consistent behavior. No campaign shortcuts it.”

A Reality Check From Main Street

The premise that workplace trust is in universal crisis deserves scrutiny. Lauren Francis, Founder and CEO of Mulberry Talent Partners, a Portland-area recruitment firm specializing in direct-hire, temp-to-hire and contract placements across HR, accounting, operations and more, has spent 25 years founding recruitment agencies and facilitating more than 10,000 placements. Her perspective is grounded in the day-to-day realities of the businesses she serves—most of them far from Silicon Valley.

“For business as a whole, this premise is misplaced,” she says. “Yes, there are high-profile stories of Silicon Valley companies restructuring, private equity firms laying off significant numbers of staff and AI taking jobs. However, for the majority of companies in America—particularly privately held, well-managed small and medium-sized businesses—trust and morale do not need to be rebuilt.”

Francis contends that the leaders of these companies have been transparent stewards throughout periods of uncertainty, and that approach has paid real dividends. “Doing so in a manner that is focused on results—while being proactive, honest and respectful to staff—builds high-performing, resilient teams,” she says. “Moreover, this leadership approach builds goodwill, which is critically important when navigating the inevitable bumps in the road.”

“It’s time for Wall Street and Silicon Valley to look to Main Street for lessons on leading and managing in difficult times.”

Communication Before, During and After: Setting the Foundation

The question of rebuilding trust starts earlier than most leaders realize, according to Tyler Crebar, Founder and CEO of Crebar Career Consulting, a firm that helps mid-career to executive professionals navigate career transitions, accelerate growth and increase their earning potential. Crebar’s background spans recruiting across finance, technology, healthcare, higher education and nonprofit organizations—including tenures at JPMorgan Chase, LinkedIn and the NCAA. This gives him a dual view from both sides of the hiring process.

“It all starts with how the layoffs or restructuring were executed,” Crebar says. “Were employees completely caught off guard with zero prior communication? Or was there some advanced notice?” The distinction shapes everything that comes after. “Leaders need to be clear on the direction of the organization and where things are strategically heading,” he continues. “They should be constantly communicating what their plan is and how everyone fits into that plan.”

Crucially, Crebar resists the temptation to frame candor as a liability. Transparency about an uncertain outlook is an investment in the organization’s credibility with those who remain.

“Even if the outlook isn’t positive, being upfront about that in times of uncertainty will help with future communication and organizational trust.”

“Employees need clarity on priorities, decision rights, workload and what work will stop—not just encouragement to do more with less.”

– Britton Bloch, VP, Global Talent Acquisition Strategy and Head of Recruiting at Navy Federal Credit Union

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Clarity, Dignity and Predictability: The Pillars of Recovery

At the enterprise level, the architecture of trust recovery is more complex—but the foundational requirements remain the same. Britton Bloch, VP, Global Talent Acquisition Strategy and Head of Recruiting at Navy Federal Credit Union, the world’s largest credit union serving the military community, has navigated workforce change at significant scale. Her perspective centers on what employees actually need—as distinct from what they’re typically given.

“Employees need clarity on priorities, decision rights, workload and what work will stop—not just encouragement to ‘do more with less,'” Bloch says. She is equally direct about how departing employees are treated, and what that signals to those who remain. “Departing employees should be handled with dignity, while remaining employees need realistic workloads, manager support and visible opportunities to grow.”

Bloch highlights the structural mechanisms that make trust sustainable rather than situational: regular forums for employee voice, published summaries of what leadership heard, action on a select number of clear commitments and—critically—honest explanations of what cannot change. That last element is often omitted, and its omission carries a cost.

“The goal is predictability: fewer surprises, clearer trade-offs, fairer processes and consistent follow-through. Morale improves when employees see that leadership is honest, capable and willing to share both accountability and agency.”

Perks and Campaigns Won’t Work—Predictable Honesty Will

The gap between what organizations reach for and what employees actually need is a pattern that Volen Vulkov, Co-Founder of Enhancv, examines with particular clarity. Enhancv is a resume and career tool platform built on the belief that job hunting should feel more human—less template-driven, more personally expressive. Vulkov has authored more than 500 career guides, and his work has been featured in Forbes, Zendesk, HubSpot and Business Insider and cited by institutions including the Thunderbird School of Management and the University of Miami.

“Organizations frequently provide perks and create messaging or cultural campaigns to attempt to revive morale,” Vulkov says. “Employees frequently view this as avoidance.” The instinct to respond to a trust deficit with a benefits upgrade or an internal communications push typically backfires—employees read it as a deflection from the real issues. What works, in Vulkov’s assessment, is a different kind of consistency.

“When leadership begins to build a history of predictable honesty and builds trust with the employees again, they will return to trusting leadership.”

Vulkov frames the underlying dynamic with precision: “Employees can adapt to difficult circumstances almost as easily as they can develop low morale due to being treated like they are manipulated emotionally with no strategic provision of information available to them.” The point is direct—employees don’t need good news. They need real news, delivered with regularity and respect.

Culture and Communication: An ‘All the Time’ Leadership Practice

Among the Think Tank members, Steve Degnan, Advisor, Board Member and former Chief Human Resources Officer with 20 years of experience leading HR at one of the world’s foremost food and pet food companies, offers a structurally important observation: Trust recovery is not a post-crisis intervention. It is the product of a leadership culture that should have been operating all along.

“Recovery is one part of an ‘all the time’ leadership practice in culture and communications,” Degnan says. “Honesty about results leads to trust and credibility, even in tough times.” The implication is clear: Leaders who communicate transparently as a default, not only when under pressure, build organizations that are inherently more resilient when disruption arrives.

“If done right, the result is less drama and fewer ugly surprise events when layoffs happen and a faster recovery.”

Degnan’s framing resets the question. The challenge is not only what to do after trust has been damaged—it is what kind of leadership practice prevents the worst of that damage in the first place. For organizations already navigating repeated disruption, that insight still applies: building habits of transparency and credibility now will accelerate recovery and create the foundation for whatever comes next.

“Communicate openly about the organization’s current state and future direction, avoiding empty promises. Involve employees in decision-making where possible, restoring their sense of agency.”

– Dr. Jonathan H. Westover, Associate Dean at Western Governors University, Founder and CEO of Human Capital Innovations and Chief Workforce and Learning Officer at Future State University

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A Leadership Framework for the Long Road Back

Dr. Jonathan H. Westover, Associate Dean at Western Governors University, Founder and CEO of Human Capital Innovations and Chief Workforce and Learning Officer at Future State University, brings extensive academic and consulting experience to the question of trust recovery. Ranked among the top scholars globally for job satisfaction research and a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council, Westover is among the most credentialed voices in organizational leadership today—and his approach is both systematic and deeply human.

“Rebuilding trust after prolonged instability requires transparent, consistent leadership,” Westover says. “Start by acknowledging past harm honestly—employees need validation of their experiences.” That validation is not a soft gesture; it is a structural prerequisite for everything that follows. “Communicate openly about the organization’s current state and future direction, avoiding empty promises. Involve employees in decision-making where possible, restoring their sense of agency.”

Westover also identifies the behavioral proof points that employees look for—and that leaders too often skip in the rush to project confidence. Demonstrating commitment means honoring obligations, investing in employee development and ensuring fair treatment. Operational stability matters too: Reducing the ambient anxiety about future cuts allows people to redirect energy from self-preservation toward contribution.

“Be patient—trust rebuilds gradually through repeated positive interactions. Leaders must model vulnerability and consistency, proving through sustained behavior that the organization values its people beyond economic cycles.”

Recognition, Westover notes, should not be treated as a morale-boosting tactic but as evidence that leadership sees and values what employees do. “Recognize contributions meaningfully and celebrate small wins together,” he says. And on support: “Provide support through counseling resources and manageable workloads.” The accumulated weight of years of uncertainty has taken a psychological toll that leaders cannot afford to overlook.

Say the Part Most Leaders Skip

The final—and perhaps most confrontational—perspective comes from Christopher Bylone, Principal Strategist and Founder of Innovation Unbiased, a strategic consultancy that builds cultures of belonging through data-driven, people-centered strategies. Bylone has led global belonging initiatives at Krispy Kreme and IFF, shaped corporate ESG strategies and built multimillion-dollar diversity, equity and inclusion programs. As a cancer survivor and lifelong advocate, his personal resilience deepens the conviction behind his professional work.

Bylone’s central provocation is direct: Most leaders, he contends, skip the most important part of the post-layoff conversation. They acknowledge difficulty without naming its cause.

“Layoffs rarely happen because the work stopped mattering,” Bylone says. “They happen because someone above the work made a bet. Over-hired in the boom. Chased a forecast that did not land. Protected a margin, a multiple, a board promise. The people who were cut did not fail. They absorbed the cost of decisions they did not make.” He is equally unflinching about what happens when leaders fail to acknowledge this reality: “Your workforce already knows this. Pretending otherwise is the fastest way to lose them again.”

“Name the mechanism, not the misfortune. That admission is the unlock. People do not need you to have been right. They need you to stop performing certainty you never had.”

The prescription that follows is as practical as it is honest. “Then prove the lesson stuck,” Bylone says. “Slower hiring. Honest forecasts. Decisions you can defend to the people they affect.” He closes with a definition that reframes the entire enterprise of trust-building: “Belonging is knowing the truth will be told, even when it costs leadership something.”

What the Best Leaders Do: Eight Principles for Rebuilding Trust

• Be honest before you try to be inspiring. Employees who have survived repeated rounds of cuts recognize corporate spin immediately. Name what happened, own the impact and be specific about what is different now before pivoting to any vision of the future. 
• Recognize that trust is not universally broken—and lead accordingly. Many well-managed organizations maintained employee trust throughout economic uncertainty through transparency and results-focused leadership. Where trust is strong, sustain it; where it has eroded, rebuild it with the same approach. 
• Communicate direction before, during and after any restructuring. Leaders who keep employees informed about strategic direction—including when the outlook is uncertain—build the credibility reserves they will need to draw on in the aftermath. 
• Make predictability the goal, not positivity. Employees don’t need leaders to have all the answers—they need fewer surprises, clearer trade-offs and processes they can trust to be fair. Regular forums for employee voice, published commitments and honest explanations of what cannot change are essential. 
• Skip the perks campaign—build a history of honest communication instead. Employees read benefits upgrades and cultural initiatives as deflections when the underlying trust issues remain unaddressed. Predictable honesty, sustained over time, is what restores confidence. 
• Treat transparent leadership as an everyday practice, not a crisis response. Organizations that communicate honestly about results as a default—not only when under pressure—recover faster from disruption and suffer less internal damage when difficult decisions must be made. 
• Restore agency through involvement, recognition and manageable workloads. Rebuilding trust requires demonstrating through sustained action—not one-time announcements—that the organization values its people. Involve employees in decisions, recognize contributions meaningfully and ensure support resources are in place. 
• Name the mechanism, not just the misfortune. Employees already understand why layoffs happen. Leaders who acknowledge the business decisions that drove reductions—rather than framing them as unfortunate circumstances—create the conditions for authentic trust to return. Then prove the lesson stuck with slower hiring, honest forecasts and decisions that can be defended to the people they affect. 

The Slow Work That Lasts

There is no shortcut to what the Senior Executive HR Think Tank is describing. The path back to a workforce that genuinely trusts its organization requires leaders to accept an uncomfortable premise: that employees are not naive—they have been watching closely. Every inconsistency has been noted. Every unkept commitment has been filed away. Every perks initiative launched in the wake of a layoff has been assessed for what it reveals about leadership’s willingness to address the real thing. That assessment has not always been charitable—and often for good reason.

What these experts describe collectively is not a recovery program. It is a recalibration of how leadership operates: more honest, more consistent, more willing to name hard truths and more disciplined about keeping small promises before making large ones. Organizations that absorb this shift will find that trust does, in fact, return—gradually, through repeated positive interactions, at exactly the speed Ryan Austin named: the speed of consistent behavior.