2019 Edelman Trust Barometer

The 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer reveals that trust has changed profoundly in the past year — people have shifted their trust to the relationships within their control, most notably their employers.

Trust Inequality

There is a 16-point gap between the more trusting informed public and the far-more-sceptical mass population, marking a return to record highs of trust inequality. In Australia, the gap between these two groups has contracted from last year to a 13-point gap.

The phenomenon fueling this divide was a pronounced rise in trust among the informed public. Markets such as the U.S., UK, Canada, South Korea and Hong Kong saw trust gains of 12 points or more among the informed public. In 18 markets, there is now a double-digit trust gap between the informed public and the mass population.

Trust inequality

Trust in Institutions

In Australia we have seen lifts in trust across all the institutions in the informed public and general population. However, no institution is in trusting territory for the general population.

Trust in Institutions

The new employer-employee contract

Despite a lack of faith in the system, there is one relationship that remains strong: “my employer”. In 16-markets, trust in my employer has increased from last year. In Australia, 77% of respondents trust “my employer”, significantly more than NGOs (56%), business (52%) and government (42%).

Employers that work to build trust will be rewarded; Australian employees who have trust in their employer demonstrate greater advocacy (80%), loyalty (71%), engagement (69%) and commitment (87%).

The New Employer-Employee Contract

For more information about the Edelman Trust Barometer contact us.