The share of employees reporting a positive six-month business outlook for their employer has hit a new low, according to company review platform Glassdoor's most recent Employee Confidence Index.
Employees' confidence in their employer's expected performance over the next six months fell to 45.6% in January, down from 47.5% in December 2023 and now at the lowest level since Glassdoor data began eight years ago, according to the index.
Within education and health services, employee confidence significantly decreased in January, falling 1.4 percentage points month over month, or 6.4 percentage points year over year.
Hiring freezes and layoffs could be contributing to lower confidence among employees across industries, according to Glassdoor.
"With more layoffs in the headlines, job security remains top of mind for employees," Daniel Zhao, a lead economist at Glassdoor, wrote.
He added: "Another reason that employee confidence may be muted is that the hiring rate has dropped sharply over the last year. Hiring is one of the most visible indicators that employees have of a company's business performance."
Glassdoor's index is based on employee ratings of their employers' six-month business outlook and represents the share of U.S. full-time and part-time employees who report a positive outlook. Data for January is current as of Jan. 2. Read more about the methodology here.