The majority of employees expect CEOs to act on major societal challenges such as climate change (84%), the wealth gap (77%), immigration (76%), discrimination (81%) and the treatment of employees (90%).

The annual Trust Barometer survey from Edelman found that 73% of employed respondents in Ireland trust their employer, while 52% of the general public trust businesses generally, down two points from last year.

Trust in other institutions has also fallen. NGOs (51%) are down by four points, trust in government fell two points to 47% and the media fell five points to 40%.

The five-point trust gap between business and government is considerably lower than the global average of 12 points, and 13 points in the UK.

On average, 48% believe progress is more likely to be made on societal issues by government and business partnering rather than both working independently (20%) or alone (government 16%, business 8%).  

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Now in its 23rd year, 32,000 people in 28 countries were questioned for the Trust Barometer, including more than 1,000 members of the Irish general public.

The Irish survey also shows dwindling economic optimism, with just 31% of respondents believing that they and their family will be better off in five years, compared to 42% in 2022.

The Ireland data also reveals that 84% of employed respondents are worried about job loss and 70% of the general population are concerned about inflation.

Existential concerns also loom large among Irish respondents, with 73% concerned about climate change and 71% worried about nuclear war arising from international conflict, the findings show. 

Less than half of Irish respondents (42%) say their country is more divided today than in the past compared to 65% of UK respondents who believe division in Britain is greater than before.

However, 54% of Irish respondents feel that the lack of civility and mutual respect is the worst they have ever seen, and just over half (51%) are of a view that the social fabric is too weak to act as a foundation for unity and common purpose.

Again, respondents in the UK were more likely to say they see a worsened lack of civility today (70%) and a social fabric that is too weak for unity (66%). 

Irish respondents are also more likely to believe that the country's divisions are surmountable and Edelman said Irish people's ratings of the country mean it is only "moderately polarised" compared to the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Japan (all "severely polarised").

“Ireland is a positive outlier with regard to social cohesion. When compared to many of our European neighbours, the Trust Barometer shows that we are more likely to feel it’s possible to overcome our lack of agreement on key societal issues and are less likely to feel extreme division," said Joe Carmody, CEO of Edelman Ireland.

"While there are divisions, they are surmountable, and the findings show that there is a real opportunity for government and business to work in unison to ensure that we face down these differences together.”

The Irish data also reveals high trust levels in traditional media, which at 60% dipped just one point since 2022. In contrast, trust in social media remains low and is now at 23% trust, a two-point drop year-on-year.

The food and beverage sector has been revealed as the most trusted sector (70%) across 15 industries included in the research. The steepest fall in trust, however, saw the energy sector (44%) record a double-digit decline after falling 14 points on 2022.

The Irish respondents also called out family-owned firms as the most trusted businesses (72%) in Ireland, with more people believing that they would do the right thing compared to privately held (48%), stated-owned (46%) and publicly traded entities (45%.) 

(Pic: Getty Images)