Our findings reveal a growing challenge for leaders already grappling with change across many fronts. A lack of clarity across parts of the workforce around what changes such as AI mean for them, their jobs and careers, seems to be translating into falling trust in their leadership. 51% of UK workers reported trusting their top management in 2025. This year that number stands at 39%, a drop of 12 percentage points. What’s needed is a way for leaders to reconnect with their workforce – and connecting top level strategy with the change and benefits employees experience in their daily lives.
“We spend a lot of time asking workers to trust AI. But they also need to trust what their leaders are going to do with it. With trust in top management falling from 51% to 39% in a year, leaders need to connect the big ambitions around AI and transformation with what people actually experience in their jobs and careers.”
Peter Brown
Global Workforce Leader, PwC UK
Workers still place greater trust in the leaders closest to them, making managers an important bridge between organisational ambition and the day-to-day experience of change. Along with senior executives, managers are also far more likely to feel positively about the direction of the organisation (34% managers vs 17% non-managers) despite feeling as though they have experienced more change in the past 12 months (35% managers vs 29% non-managers). This makes them an important asset for leaders wanting to translate bold ambitions into what it means for their teams and so arming them with the right context and confidence is a vital step.
There’s also a need to look at what behaviours are perceived to be rewarded within your organisation, and if these are reinforcing your intended message. For example, only 9% of UK workers feel using AI effectively is rewarded, innovation is mentioned by 16%, learning new skills by 18% and taking initiative by 27%. In contrast, the highest scoring response was around delivering measurable results (31%) closely followed by avoiding mistakes (27%) and following processes (26%). If leaders want to encourage a culture of experimentation with AI and redesign work, then they need to look to bringing leadership signals, incentives and performance measures in sync to reinforce this message.
There’s an opportunity here too, for the leaders who can land their message effectively both within their organisation and beyond. Our findings reveal that the workers most in demand for their skills rate a positive work environment second only to pay and benefits (42% vs 55%). So leaders may find it not just easier to keep their talent, but attract the best and brightest from the external market at the same time.
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