In 2025, the communications landscape is shaped by a profound crisis of trust, rapid technological advancements, and shifting workforce dynamics.
Trust in institutions is at an all-time low, necessitating transparent and ethical communication to rebuild confidence. The rise of AI and other technologies offers significant potential to enhance productivity and effectiveness but also requires improved literacy and strategic adoption.
As the workforce evolves, employees demand greater security, tailored benefits, and mental health support, highlighting the need for communicators to align their strategies with these expectations. The changing media landscape, characterized by the rise of AI-generated content and the need for stronger relationships with journalists, calls for a proactive and adaptive approach.
IABC’s Professional Development and Content Committee is pleased to release their second annual State of Comms report. Developed by communication professionals for communication professionals, below is a review of hand-selected industry reports with key points for communicators to incorporate into their practice.
2025 Edelman Trust Barometer: Trust and the Crisis of Grievance
Source: Edelman
Submitted By: Kelli Cargile Cook
A Glance at the Report
The 25th annual Edelman Trust Barometer tracks the global decline of trust, evolving from fear (2023) to polarization (2024) and grievance (2025). The survey, which gathered insights from 33,000 respondents across multiple countries, reveals that 61% of participants expressed grievance, highlighting a widespread crisis of confidence and trust.
Among the four key institutions — government, NGOs, media, and business — only business was perceived as both competent and ethical. While most business sectors maintain public trust, social media remains an exception.
Notably, economic optimism appears to mitigate grievances when trust levels rise. The report concludes with strategic recommendations for businesses, governments, NGOs, and media organizations to rebuild trust by addressing grievances directly.
Key Takeaways for Communicators
Communicators should pay close attention to the grievances highlighted in the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer. Given their roles across all four institutions — government, business, NGOs, and media — the declining trust in institutional and leadership communication poses a significant challenge.
The survey indicates that many respondents believe leaders “purposely mislead people by saying things they know are false or exaggerated.” Additionally, 40% of all respondents — and 50% of young adults — consider “hostile activism,” such as online harassment, misinformation campaigns, and even threats or acts of violence, as viable tactics for driving change. These trends suggest that crisis communication will remain a critical responsibility for business communicators in the coming year.
The findings emphasize that addressing grievances requires intentional action. Respondents expect businesses to improve wages, provide better training, and tackle broader societal issues such as affordability, climate change, retraining, misinformation, and discrimination. However, businesses cannot shoulder this responsibility alone. Governments must deliver tangible benefits to citizens, NGOs must work to bridge divisions, and media organizations must prioritize factual reporting. Through decisive action and transparent communication, these institutions can begin to restore trust and optimism.
ACCESS THE REPORT
25 Big Ideas That Will Change Our World in 2025
Source: LinkedIn News
Submitted By: Melissa Corns
A Glance at the Report
LinkedIn's annual "Big Ideas" report, released in early December, spotlights key predictions for 2025. Recurring themes include advancements in AI, workforce shifts, and evolving global trade dynamics. This year’s report also introduces some interesting ideas, such as fostering workplace community through team lunches, diversifying dating by ditching apps, and the rise of sports betting, adding an intriguing twist to the forecast.
Key Points for Communicators
LinkedIn's annual predictions report offers insights for a broad audience, even when some forecasts don't fully materialize — a recurring theme year-over-year. This year, AI has transitioned from novelty to necessity across industries. Amid layoffs and fears of losing the human touch, AI can be reframed as a workplace asset, streamlining repetitive tasks and creating more time for relationship building, strategic thinking, and creative work. AI also plays a key role in driving inclusivity by enabling more people with disabilities to enter the workforce.
As millennials take over executive roles from Gen X and retirees rejoin the workforce in increasing numbers, communicators will need to adapt. Bridging generational, technological, and collaboration gaps while delivering clear, focused messaging will be crucial to fostering connection. Consider establishing the role of an office influencer, for example. Authors point to internal content creators’ ability to create authenticity and build relatable connections with your audience.
The report underscores these trends' interconnectedness, showing how advances in one area can amplify progress in others. Understanding these ideas equips individuals and organizations to navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead.
ACCESS THE REPORT
2025 Gallagher State of the Sector: Employee Communications Report
Source: Gallagher
Submitted By: Jacob R. Robinson
A Glance at the Report
Now in its 17th year, Gallagher’s State of the Sector is a definitive report for internal communications and employee experience. This year’s report featured 2,000 respondents globally.
Strategic alignment and culture and belonging heavily outweighed every other category in 2025, following a relatively consistent trend. A key new barrier introduced this year, however, was change fatigue, ranking second only behind “lack of time/capacity in my team,” with 44% of respondents rating it the most impactful barrier. Employees are growing frustrated of constant change. As this frustration grows, so does their thirst for transparency from leadership, clearer directional mandates, and a more seamless, optimal mix and use of deskless communication channels.
In addition, well-being (mental health) in the workplace rose from ninth in 2023-2024 to the fifth most-communicated topic in 2024-2025, overtaking other key topics such as business performance and recognition and awards. This alarming trend could signify linkage between chaotic change and poorer well-being, as communication professionals are already stretched beyond their capacity, struggle to make sense of the meaning of their work, and feel left to their own devices to navigate increasingly unpredictable turbulence.
Change can be productive if it is participatory and supportive, and widely understood and accepted by those it affects. This problem-opportunity makes leadership coaching and stakeholder management skills all the more critical for organizations in 2025. Employee engagement overwhelmingly ranked first in the top five business metrics tracked by communication professionals, at 71%. In addition, a communication professional’s ability to use data was found to have a strong, positive correlation to the prevalence of collaborative interdepartmental relationships.
Key Points for Communicators
Communication professionals should aim to be thrivers as opposed to survivors in their practice, to enhance their credibility and influence, and to enjoy satisfaction with progress toward purpose. It is the thrivers who spend their time on the essential architectural activities such as planning, strategy, and relationship building, which justify, emphasize, and reinforce the purpose and value of communication. Contrast this with survivors, who get lost in the tactical weeds.
There is potential to reorient and free up efficiency with slowly increasing responsible AI adoption. In fact, eight in 10 respondents are in favor of its use to assist with foundational tasks, such as content creation and copywriting, yet two in five report still having no governance or guidance in place at their organization.
Communication can be viewed as a critical lever and enabler of business success, but only when its practitioners carve out the time to engage their teams, provide clarity, and tie to business objectives. It is worth calling out from the report that 86% of respondents who were collaborative with the C-suite had reportedly higher satisfaction with their overall communication purpose than those with obstructive relationships. Thrivers this year also notably listed a case for more resources as their top priority, which can be achieved by fostering these collaborative relationships. That said, success is two-way; the thriver can exercise effort and courage, but only when they believe their leadership and organization is willing to provide the conditions necessary to thrive.
ACCESS THE REPORT
2024 State of Business Communication: AI’s Potential To Turn Overload Into Impact
Source: Grammarly and The Harris Poll
Submitted By: Joe Bobbey
A Glance at the Report
The latest State of Business Communications survey from Grammarly, done in collaboration with The Harris Poll, examines the significant role generative AI is playing in transforming workplace communication. The study included 1,225 responses from business leaders and knowledge workers from corporations with 150 employees or more.
Key Points for Communicators
Survey responses show business leaders and knowledge workers are overwhelmed by the increased demand on their time for effective communications. While they generally recognize generative AI has the potential to deliver benefits in productivity, cost savings, and effectiveness, businesses need to address their workers’ lack of AI literacy and widespread adoption. “The absence of company-wide strategies have led to a decentralized approach to adoption among professionals.”
The report presents a four-step plan to implement a standardized approach to AI adoption:
- Align AI education to how people work, with customized training to build understanding and proficiency.
- Invest in the right technology, with AI solutions — from secure and reputable providers — that work well with existing technology.
- Prioritize standardization of the AI technology that all teams use and their role-specific training.
- Build an enterprise-wide AI culture that actively embraces generative AI long term.
ACCESS THE REPORT
2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey: Understanding the Employee Voice
Source: WTW
Submitted By: Christine Breet
A Glance at the Report
The 2024 Global Benefits Attitudes Survey from WTW provides a comprehensive look at employee priorities, focusing on their benefits, financial well-being, and work flexibility needs.
Surveying 45,000 employees in 29 countries highlights a shifting landscape where employees demand greater security, tailored benefits, and mental health support. While employer efforts in diversity, equity, inclusion, and well-being are acknowledged, gaps persist between what employees want and what organizations prioritize. The survey stresses the importance of aligning benefits with evolving workforce expectations to enhance retention and engagement.
Key Points for Communicators
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly shifted employee priorities, with a newfound emphasis on job security, financial well-being, and flexible work arrangements. While workers value flexible work and financial support, there is a notable misalignment as employers rank these aspects lower in their strategic focus, creating a critical disconnect that needs to be addressed.
Investment in mental health initiatives has positively impacted global Net Promoter Scores by 20%; however, over a third of employees experiencing anxiety or depression still do not seek treatment. Furthermore, employees who have greater control over their benefit options report higher levels of satisfaction and trust in their employers.
Despite the demand for remote and flexible working arrangements, mismatched expectations between employers and employees contribute to engagement and retention challenges. Although more than half of the workforce believes their organizations have made strides in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts, regional disparities persist.
Currently, 55% of employees intend to remain with their current employers, indicating improved satisfaction with benefit offerings. Additionally, nearly 39% of employees globally prefer virtual care if it reduces waiting times, underscoring the need for better integration of such services. Nonetheless, financial well-being gaps continue, with 63% of employees facing challenges in at least one aspect of their overall well-being.
ACCESS THE REPORT
Navigating a Changing Media Landscape
Source: The Institute for Public Relations and Peppercomm
Submitted By: Donna Itzoe
A Glance at the Report
In this report by the Institute for Public Relations and Peppercomm, the authors focus on findings that show what’s growing, shrinking, and emerging in the media landscape. Their researchers surveyed 22 chief communications officers (CCOs) and 22 media relations experts in June and July 2024.
Key Points for Communicators
High on the list for communicators to understand is that journalists are short on budgets, staff, and time to conduct research. For communicators and PR teams, that means less organic, earned coverage, as well as fewer in-depth stories. The bottom line for communicators is a need to return to building professional relationships with members of the media; focus on providing in-the-can releases and videos and seek more budget dollars for paid and sponsored content.
In the category of what’s growing is a rise in AI-generated content, misinformation, and sensationalism. While content generated from AI is controversial, it is ever-growing and emerging. This means communicators may need to adapt, if we haven’t already.
The net of all these changes is a need for communication professionals and CCOs to get up to speed quickly on all emerging communication technologies so we can update our teams, organizational leaders, and key stakeholders.
ACCESS THE REPORT
Communicating Culture During a Hybrid Revolution
Source: USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism and IABC
Submitted By: IABC Staff
A Glance at the Report
As the workplace continues to evolve, the balance between remote, hybrid and in-office work has become a critical focus for organizations. In a study by IABC and USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Center for Public Relations, results show the pivotal role internal communicators play in navigating these changes.
From the effectiveness of remote work policies to the impact on corporate culture and employee morale, the findings highlight both the challenges and opportunities in this new era of work.
Key Points for Communicators
With 90% of respondents working hybrid or fully remote, it’s clear that remote and hybrid work is the new norm. Of those surveyed, 70% believe work-from-home policies are effective for organizational success. While feelings are mixed on the impact of culture — 37% say remote work has weakened it, while 27% feel it has strengthened it — communicators ultimately have an opportunity to lead. More than half (65%) of respondents see comms gaining importance, with more than one-third (31%) noting more budget made available.
“The wide adoption of remote and hybrid practices has created a balancing act between corporate culture and employee morale. This presents internal communicators with the opportunity to redefine the future of work and their role in it,” says Fred Cook, director, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, USC Center for Public Relations.
Stay tuned for more research coming from USC Center for Public Relations in partnership with IABC this spring.
ACCESS THE REPORT
View last year’s report from the committee: 2024 State of Comms: 7 Reports and Studies We’re Keeping an Eye On