The workplace has changed and we all feel it. There’s a sense of mistrust and conflict; not loud and confrontational, but quiet and tense. When workplace trust breaks down and fear takes over, employees and employers freeze each other out, with a chilling effect on company culture, employee performance, and business value.
Today’s employee vs. employer tensions are giving so many ominous Cold War vibes that we’ve decided to christen this moment the Cold Work crisis.
This article is the first in a series exploring the workplace tensions defining Cold Work and laying out actionable strategies to help you thaw the freeze.
Today’s employee vs. employer tensions are giving so many ominous Cold War vibes that we’ve decided to christen this moment the Cold Work crisis.
This article is the first in a series exploring the workplace tensions defining Cold Work and laying out actionable strategies to help you thaw the freeze.
Why This Time Feels Different
The workplace has always had its tensions, whether that’s figuring out “the new normal” after COVID-19, surviving the Great Financial Crisis, or navigating the many technology and culture changes over the past few decades. But now feels different. I see it in my clients’ organizations, hear it from individual employees, and witness it across social media.
This summer, we dug into what’s really driving that shift, including capturing hard data to back up our anecdotal observations. Partnering with NonFiction, we conducted research with employees, business leaders, and workplace experts to uncover the hidden tensions lurking between employers and employees due to the changing expectations of work.
Our goal was to go beneath the surface of traditional employee-pulse surveys to uncover the deeper human insights that shape workplace behavior and culture.
What we found speaks volumes about today’s workplace and the broader cultural climate – revealing a rising tide of negativity and unique challenges that both employees and employers must navigate together:
The workplace has always had its tensions, whether that’s figuring out “the new normal” after COVID-19, surviving the Great Financial Crisis, or navigating the many technology and culture changes over the past few decades. But now feels different. I see it in my clients’ organizations, hear it from individual employees, and witness it across social media.
This summer, we dug into what’s really driving that shift, including capturing hard data to back up our anecdotal observations. Partnering with NonFiction, we conducted research with employees, business leaders, and workplace experts to uncover the hidden tensions lurking between employers and employees due to the changing expectations of work.
Our goal was to go beneath the surface of traditional employee-pulse surveys to uncover the deeper human insights that shape workplace behavior and culture.
What we found speaks volumes about today’s workplace and the broader cultural climate – revealing a rising tide of negativity and unique challenges that both employees and employers must navigate together:
1 in 3 respondents (employees & employers) told us the current state of the American workplace feels somewhat or very negative.
Economic instability
40%
Uncertainty about AI
35%
Political & social tension
34%
Emotional fatigue & burnout
33%
Generational divides
28%
Unclear strategies
27%
Distrust in institutions & leadership
26%
Pressure to adapt
26%
Blurred boundaries
22%
Conflicting expectations
19%
When asked why, respondents cited job security as the top concern, with 40% connecting it to economic instability, and 35% tying it to AI uncertainty. That’s not surprising, as 1 in 4 companies had a layoff in the last year.
Other top reasons are cultural: 34% say political tension is spilling into the workplace, 28% say generational divides create challenges, and 26% lack trust in institutions. Others show just how exhausted workers are, and the pressure they are under to learn and adapt to new tools and ways of working.
It’s no surprise that employees are starting to break under the pressure. In fact, two in five employees reported that stress or difficulties at work have negatively impacted their personal lives.
As one employee shared:
As one employee shared:
“I have to work very hard at not taking my feelings from work out on those at home. I sit in my car and cry every evening before coming in the house, and when I leave work on Friday I immediately begin stressing about returning on Monday, and wondering if I will even have a job on Monday.”
Defining the Cold Work Crisis
Employees and employers are coping with these challenges as best they can, but the data shows that trust is eroding and people are checking out. 1 in 3 respondents told us that over the past 2 years, the relationship between employees and employers has become more disengaged.
That disengagement isn’t loud conflict – it’s more subtle. Our research showed both employees and employers engaging in “hidden behaviors” – largely negative behaviors driven by dissatisfaction that are not obvious to the other party – that illustrate that disengagement:
Employees and employers are coping with these challenges as best they can, but the data shows that trust is eroding and people are checking out. 1 in 3 respondents told us that over the past 2 years, the relationship between employees and employers has become more disengaged.
That disengagement isn’t loud conflict – it’s more subtle. Our research showed both employees and employers engaging in “hidden behaviors” – largely negative behaviors driven by dissatisfaction that are not obvious to the other party – that illustrate that disengagement:
62% of employeesadmitted to hidden behaviors during working hours like applying to other jobs, working a side hustle, ignoring emails, shopping, or writing negative reviews.
49% of employersadmitted to hidden behaviors at work like avoiding direct reports, fantasizing about firing an employee, monitoring email, stalking social media, tracking bathroom breaks, or assigning tedious work as retaliation.
Professor Tony O’Driscoll captured the moment perfectly: “We’re in the middle of a transition… in the fog between what was and what will be. Nobody knows what will be. Which means, by definition, people are operating out of a position of fear.”
Operating out of fear, keeping dissatisfaction hidden, and avoiding confrontation allows the negativity to fester. Leaders need to take the challenge head-on, shining a light on the tensions that exist so they can begin to solve them.
Naming this freeze the Cold Work crisis gives leaders a problem they can fix. Without a name, the freeze remains invisible. Without visibility, there’s no accountability. And without accountability, there’s no change.
Tarik West, SVP of People at WongDoody and BlueAcorn iCi, emphasized the point: “We’re always trying to understand the current moment. I think naming Cold Work gives us a shared language to talk about it and take the first step toward change.”
Operating out of fear, keeping dissatisfaction hidden, and avoiding confrontation allows the negativity to fester. Leaders need to take the challenge head-on, shining a light on the tensions that exist so they can begin to solve them.
Naming this freeze the Cold Work crisis gives leaders a problem they can fix. Without a name, the freeze remains invisible. Without visibility, there’s no accountability. And without accountability, there’s no change.
Tarik West, SVP of People at WongDoody and BlueAcorn iCi, emphasized the point: “We’re always trying to understand the current moment. I think naming Cold Work gives us a shared language to talk about it and take the first step toward change.”
44%
of research respondents said Cold Work accurately describes their workplace.
How to Start Thawing the Freeze
The good news? Cold Work is fixable, and it doesn’t always require big budgets or lofty transformations. Just intention. It starts with acknowledging the freeze, then diagnosing the hidden tensions and designing new ways to engage employees.
As Phil Golub, WongDoody SVP Product Design, emphasized, “Technology changes faster than business, and both change faster than workplace culture. Leaders need to design for culture, recognizing the humanity of their employees… not just deploy new technology or write a new policy.”
Our research uncovered several low-investment tactics that have an outsized impact on employee-employer relationships, like acknowledging difficult changes, setting clear workplace expectations, and making creative trade-offs. We’ll explore each of these in depth throughout this series.
Cold Work won’t thaw on its own. Leaders must name it, confront it, and design for it – starting now. Because the future of work isn’t just about tech stacks or policy shifts, it’s about rebuilding trust, facilitating deeper connections, and designing experiences that employees and employers love.
As one manager put it: “It’s this echo chamber of they don’t care, so I don’t care. I don’t know who will break the cycle first.”
It’s time to break the cycle, and thaw the freeze.
The good news? Cold Work is fixable, and it doesn’t always require big budgets or lofty transformations. Just intention. It starts with acknowledging the freeze, then diagnosing the hidden tensions and designing new ways to engage employees.
As Phil Golub, WongDoody SVP Product Design, emphasized, “Technology changes faster than business, and both change faster than workplace culture. Leaders need to design for culture, recognizing the humanity of their employees… not just deploy new technology or write a new policy.”
Our research uncovered several low-investment tactics that have an outsized impact on employee-employer relationships, like acknowledging difficult changes, setting clear workplace expectations, and making creative trade-offs. We’ll explore each of these in depth throughout this series.
Cold Work won’t thaw on its own. Leaders must name it, confront it, and design for it – starting now. Because the future of work isn’t just about tech stacks or policy shifts, it’s about rebuilding trust, facilitating deeper connections, and designing experiences that employees and employers love.
As one manager put it: “It’s this echo chamber of they don’t care, so I don’t care. I don’t know who will break the cycle first.”
It’s time to break the cycle, and thaw the freeze.
Matthew dietly
Employee Experience Lead
A friend called future
