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The Loyalty Deficit: Trust, Talent & the Future Workforce

The Loyalty Deficit: Trust, Talent & the Future Workforce

Now in its sixth year, our Future World of Work Research 2026 explores the evolving relationship between employers and employees. This year’s edition surveyed 1,000 HR Leaders and Managers across the UK and Ireland. The findings reveal a sharp disconnect between how HR Leaders and Managers view the problems and describe how it is being felt.

The employment deal still holds, but trust doesn’t!

For the first time in this series, the research examined the state of the psychological contract — the unwritten understanding between employer and employee about mutual obligations.

67% of respondents agree the traditional employment deal still broadly holds.

70% agree that employee trust in employers has eroded over the past five years.

While the traditional employment structure remains, faith in what it can deliver for people is fracturing.

What’s inside the report

This year’s research surveyed 1,000 respondents — 250 HR Leaders and Decision-Makers, and 750 Managers across all functions — from UK and Ireland organisations with 250+ employees.

Four critical themes emerged.

Theme 1: The Erosion of Trust

  • 70% of both HR Leaders and Managers agree trust has eroded.
  • But they disagree on why: Managers blame pay and job insecurity; HR Leaders point to leadership credibility and culture.
  • A 23-point perception gap exists on whether trust is currently strong (72% of HR Leaders say yes vs. 49% of Managers).

Theme 2: Human Skills in an AI World

  • Adaptability, problem-solving and resilience top the list of skills needed for 2028.
  • HR Leaders are twice as likely as Managers to rate their organisation “excellent” at developing human skills.
  • 34% cite AI displacement as their biggest five-year workforce concern.

Theme 3: Wellbeing, Burnout & Sustainable Performance

  • 44% say burnout has contributed to unwanted attrition in the past 12 months.
  • 39% say their organisation’s approach to burnout prevention is “not effective”.
  • Managers are 15 percentage points more likely than HR Leaders to view prevention efforts as ineffective.

Theme 4: Career Development & Workforce Planning

  • 74% rate externally provided career support as valuable.
  • HR Leaders believe the organisation owns career development; Managers believe it’s the individual’s responsibility.
  • This disconnect leaves employees navigating alone, and they need support.

The Optimism Gap

Running through every theme is a consistent finding: HR Leaders are systematically more positive than Managers about the quality and impact of people practices.

This isn’t a failure of honesty — it’s a calibration gap. HR and Learning and Development design and commission development programmes based on business needs. Managers are tasked with the implementation. Both perspectives are valid. But when they diverge this significantly, investment gets misdirected.

Aligning Strategy and Implementation

To address this challenge, we at Harmonics have developed The Six Guiding Principles Workshop where we bring together a cohort of Managers, HR and Learning & Development and employees to align and prioritise on what Career Development should look like to meet future business needs. We take a three-dimensional approach to address the Manager, Employee and HR perspectives.

The end result is an increase in trust from all parties that the Organisation is invested and aligned on career development initiatives that both future proof the workforce and the business.

What employees are really saying

Alongside the HR and manager data, the research captured direct employee voices. Here is what they said below, and it starkly further shows the need for alignment of strategy, implementation and importantly communication:

“I’m fed up with the untruths.”

“Ongoing corporate nonsense — who believes this stuff anymore?”

“If the Company can’t invest in my career then I’ll do it myself… elsewhere.”

“I don’t trust my organisation or my manager any more.”

These aren’t complaints. They’re signals.

Download the full report

The complete Future World of Work Research 2026: The Loyalty Deficit includes:

  • Full data across all four themes
  • Generational breakdowns (Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers)
  • HR Leader vs Manager perception comparisons
  • Practical recommendations for closing the gaps

📄 Download the Full Report (PDF)

About INTOO & Harmonics

INTOO in the UK and Harmonics in Ireland are the People Change division of Gi Group Holding — one of the world’s leading HR services and consulting groups. Harmonics, Ireland’s leading people change consultancy, brings these insights to Irish organisations through outplacement, executive coaching and career management services.

For more information or to discuss the findings, contact us at info@harmonics.ie or call +353 61 336136.

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Harmonics team welcome Gi Group to Limerick

Following the announcement that Harmonics has joined Gi Group Holding, the two teams came together in Limerick to kick off the next chapter… and to get to know each other.

We recently welcomed the Gi Group Holding leadership team to Castletroy Park Hotel in Limerick for our first integration day since the investment was announced.

It was a warm, energising day, and a genuine kick-off to the next chapter of the Harmonics story.

Who joined us

We were delighted to welcome:

  • Rui Rocheta — Chief Regional Officer, Western Europe and Latin America, Gi Group Holding
  • Paulo Canoa — Gi Group UK and Ireland
  • Matt Fitzpatrick — Country Manager, Gi Group Ireland

They were joined by GI colleagues from across Ireland including Grafton Recruitment, Marks Sattin, and Gi Staffing and from the UK.

The wider Harmonics and Gi Group team at the integration day

A story of twenty years

I opened the session by walking our new colleagues on the Gi Group team through the Harmonics journey… twenty years condensed into a short presentation. It’s a story I’ve told before, but telling it to a new set of colleagues who are about to become part of it made it feel fresh again.

A few of the milestones I shared:

2006 — One vision. Harmonics was founded with a simple purpose: to build a business that makes a difference in people’s lives. Our first client was the University of Limerick where we piloted the very first Career Development Programme for female staff.

2008 — Future Proofing the business. We added a niche quality recruitment offering in the Mid-West, led by Melissa Foley, who was soon joined by Lee-Ann Enright…both still with us today.

2011 — Going global. Harmonics joined OI Global Partners, an alliance of independent coaching, change and outplacement firms, our first step into international work.

2019 — Future Proof Your Career. Published my book as the go-to guide for thriving in the future of work, and we launched our Global Future Career Readiness Index.

2020–2026 — Scale and reach. We broke key revenue milestones, launched our podcast The Chord, and won large Outplacement projects locally with Molex and Wyeth and grew internationally with change projects in the US and Dubai based on the quality of our work.

2025/26 — The next chapter. GI Group is investing in Harmonics deep expertise and trusted client relationships across the country, while offering the opportunity for global capability and scale.

Twenty years, many chapters, one continuous thread: helping organisations and their people navigate change with care.

John Fitzgerald presenting the Harmonics story

What this means for our clients

For our clients, and for anyone who has been part of the Harmonics story over the last twenty years, the message from Limerick was the same as the message from day one of this announcement:

  • Same team. I continue to lead the People Change business in Ireland, alongside the same coaches and consultants you’ve worked with.
  • Same brand. Harmonics continues to operate as Harmonics… same approach, same standards.
  • Same care. Quality of care has been at the heart of our business since 2006. It stays there.
Going beyond together — Through Gi Group Holding, our clients now have access to a broader global portfolio of HR services across recruitment, organisation change consulting, executive and career coaching, and outplacement.

Matt Fitzpatrick and Gi Group colleagues at the integration day

What’s next

We have exciting developments to share in the coming months… new services, new collaborations, and new opportunities that this partnership opens up.

For now, my thanks to Rui, Paulo, Matt, and the wider Gi Group team for the warmth and generosity they brought to Limerick. And thanks to the Harmonics team for helping to make our new colleagues feel at home.

Twenty years in, we’re just getting started.

Continue the conversation

If you’d like to talk about what this next chapter means for your organisation, or you’re simply curious to hear more, we’d love to hear from you.

You can read the original announcement here, or contact us on 061 336136 or info@harmonics.ie.

John Fitzgerald
Founder & Managing Director, Harmonics

Harmonics is part of Gi Group Holding… one of the world’s leading providers of HR services and consulting, operating in more than 30 countries.

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Gi Group Holding invests in Harmonics

Gi Group Holding strengthens its presence in Ireland through investment in Harmonics

Gi Group Holding, one of the world’s leading providers of HR services and consulting, has strengthened its presence in Ireland through an investment in Harmonics, a leading Irish outplacement, change consulting and recruitment firm.

Founded in 2006 by John Fitzgerald, Harmonics has established itself as one of Ireland’s most recognised brands for supporting organisations and their people through change. Over the past 20 years, the company has built strong, long-standing client relationships, with quality of care at the heart of its approach.

The investment represents a further step in Gi Group Holding’s growth in Ireland, following its first investment in the country in 2018 and subsequent Investments in 2019 and 2024. By combining Harmonics’ deep knowledge of the Irish market with Gi Group Holding’s international expertise and broader portfolio of HR services, the partnership will expand the range of solutions and specialist capabilities available to clients.

Harmonics will continue to operate under its existing brand, with John Fitzgerald continuing to lead the People Change business in Ireland.

Rui Rocheta, Chief Regional Officer, Western Europe and LATAM, at Gi Group Holding, said:

“Harmonics is a strong and highly respected business, with an approach to clients and people that is closely aligned with our own. This investment is an important step in our continued development in Ireland and opens up exciting opportunities for collaboration and growth, while enabling us to bring even greater value to our clients.”

John Fitzgerald, Founder and Managing Director of Harmonics, said:

“Finding a partner whose values reflect those we have built at Harmonics was fundamental to us. Joining forces with Gi Group Holding gives our clients and our team access to a wider pool of international expertise, while allowing us to continue building on the quality, care and trusted relationships that have always been at the heart of our business.”

The partnership will create further opportunities for collaboration across Gi Group Holding’s existing operations in Ireland, combining local market knowledge with the Group’s global resources and specialist expertise.

Through this investment, Gi Group Holding continues to strengthen its presence in strategic markets and broaden its ability to support organisations and people through the evolving world of work.

Matt Fitzpatrick, Country Manager, Gi Group Ireland, said:

“As we continue to invest in the Irish labour market, this acquisition demonstrates our commitment to, and confidence in, Ireland. Harmonics and Gi Group are a strong cultural, strategic and operational fit. Together, we will strengthen our position in the recruitment and HR services market and complement our existing brands in Ireland: Gi Group Recruitment, Marks Sattin and Grafton Recruitment.

“I am very much looking forward to working closely with John and the wider Harmonics team as we navigate the future of work and HR in Ireland together.”

ENDS