Job security is dead for four out of every five U.S. employees.

U.S. According to a December 2024 survey of 1,115 U.S. employees:

• 92% fear a recession in 2025.
• 81% worry about losing their jobs.
• 76% expect layoffs to rise.
• 63% foresee more business closures than in 2024.
• 57% think finding a job will be harder.
• 52% anticipate worsening burnout.

Given recent mass layoffs — from Amazon to Boeing — and the fact that job losses were 5.5% higher in 2024 than in 2023, employees are increasingly on edge.

Meanwhile, job satisfaction has plunged to historic lows, and the number of workers seeking to switch jobs has hit a 10-year high. Yet, with fewer openings per unemployed worker than before the pandemic, employees feel trapped.

What can employers do?

We need a workplace reset.

If employers fail to reconnect with their workforce, they’ll stay stuck in the same post-pandemic mess: The Great Resignation. Quiet Quitting. The Great Reshuffle.

A CEO recently told me:

“We’ve thrown money at disengagement. It hasn’t worked. We hired high-priced talent— they left for even better offers. We offered free lunches — they ate them, but productivity didn’t change. At least a quarter of our employees spend time daily looking for jobs elsewhere.

“Then, after reading your January 6th article warning employers to brace for the January resignation rush, we implemented your recommendation of “stay interviews.” It worked so well we’re now doing them quarterly. What else can we do that doesn’t cost money?”

The answer: radical transparency.

I told them: “Do what works when you want to improve any relationship: Communicate. You’ve taken the most important first step: You’ve listened to your employees, and hopefully acted on what you’ve heard.”

Next, give a “state of the company” address. Schedule a companywide session where leaders speak directly to all employees at the same time. Address:

• Where the company is headed.
• Employees’ roles in that future.
• How you plan to treat and reward those who perform.
• What they should realistically expect.

Finally, run the “management gauntlet.”

Employees don’t trust leadership. Fix that. After the address, break employees into small groups for 20 minutes to compile unfiltered questions. Then, stand all leaders in front of the company and answer every question. Live. On the spot.

Yes, this is terrifying for leadership.

Yes, it works. Here’s why:

• Employees get to challenge leadership in real time.
• They hear the same answers at the same time.
• They assess whether they believe the answers for themselves.

In Chapter 4 of my book “Managing for Accountability,” I share how one Anchorage company ran the gauntlet three times to navigate major upheavals. Each time, they emerged stronger.

The bottom line: Employees no longer trust their employers. They fear layoffs. They feel stuck. Spring the trap. Give them a reason to stay. Reset your workplace.