Global worker confidence declines, while job satisfaction remains strong

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Employers may be wondering how workers are doing these days, but the answer isn’t simple—no matter where they’re based.

Job confidence is down in many countries, while job satisfaction and well-being are holding steady, according to the 2026 Global Talent Barometer from ManpowerGroup.

The report surveyed 13,918 workers across 19 countries, including the US, Mexico, Japan, and India. Perhaps most striking is how employees in each country view the state of the workplace.

Overall worker sentiment is 67%, and consistent with the first barometer conducted in 2024. Workers in India had the highest sentiment at 77%; at the other end of the spectrum were those in Japan, where sentiment was just 48%.

Still, workers appear to be stressed, according to the report. While 67% of all workers reported positive well-being, just 42% said they have minimal daily stress. Workers in Japan appear to have among the lowest well-being numbers: 30% said they experience minimal daily stress, and 49% said they have a good work-life balance, compared to the global average of 70%.

The report recommends that employers focus on mitigating burnout and creating work environments that allow employees to thrive in all aspects of their lives.

As more employers adopt and deploy new technology, like GenAI, around the world, they may also want to focus on empowering workers to use new tools, the report said. Overall worker confidence is 73%, a three-point decrease since 2024, and worker confidence as it relates to using the latest technology is just 64%. That number falls to 51% in Sweden and 39% in Japan. On the other hand, 90% of workers in India feel confident with new technology. Regardless of how confident workers are about technology, most feel good about their own experiences and skills, with the exception of employees in Japan.

“The advance of AI means every leader is managing two horizons at once,” Becky Frankiewicz, president and chief strategy officer at ManpowerGroup, said in the report. “There’s the now—running the business that exists today and supporting people through transformation. And there’s the next—building skills and confidence for an AI-infused future we are all still creating.”