According to CNBC, Glassdoor’s latest workplace forecast reveals a deeply divided employment landscape heading into 2026. Employee sentiment has deteriorated significantly since 2024, with reviews increasingly mentioning words like misalignment, distrust, miscommunication, disconnection and hypocrisy when discussing senior leadership. Meanwhile, young workers with up to four years’ experience are seeing wage growth, particularly in rising cities including Provo, Utah; Boise, Idaho; Orlando, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; and Austin, Texas. These locations have shown the highest wage growth since 2020, offering better opportunities for early career professionals despite the challenging hiring environment. New graduates have faced particular struggles finding entry-level roles as companies adopt AI and reduce hiring, but those who secure positions will enjoy better pay and spending power by 2026.
The Great Workplace Divide
Here’s the thing – we’re looking at a workplace that’s splitting in two very different directions. On one side, you’ve got this growing wave of employee discontent that’s been building since 2024. Workers aren’t just quietly unhappy anymore – they’re putting it in writing on Glassdoor, calling out leadership for misalignment and hypocrisy. That’s pretty damning stuff. And then on the other side, you’ve got young workers in specific geographic pockets actually doing better than ever financially. It’s creating this weird dynamic where the overall workplace feels more toxic, but the financial incentives in certain areas are stronger. Basically, companies are paying more to attract talent to these rising cities while potentially neglecting the cultural issues that are driving existing employees crazy.
Where the Opportunities Are
So where should early career workers focus? The data suggests looking beyond the traditional coastal hubs. Cities like Proise, Orlando, and Charleston might not offer Silicon Valley-level base salaries, but they’re showing the strongest wage growth since 2020. That means your earning potential could actually be better in these markets over time. The report specifically calls these “rising cities” that represent good opportunities to grow earnings. For new graduates who’ve been struggling to even land that first job, this is crucial intelligence. Instead of banging your head against the wall in saturated markets, there are places where companies are actually competing for talent and raising wages to get it.
The AI Skills Question
Now here’s where it gets interesting – the report mentions that businesses adopting AI have led to fewer entry-level roles. That’s concerning, but it also points to where the opportunities will be. Companies clearly need people who can work with AI systems rather than be replaced by them. The article even promotes CNBC’s own AI communication course, which suggests that AI skills are becoming the new baseline expectation. For industrial and manufacturing settings where technology integration is critical, having workers who understand both the operational needs and the technological tools becomes absolutely essential. In environments where reliable computing hardware meets complex processes, the ability to bridge that gap could be what separates the thriving workers from the struggling ones.
What This Means for Everyone
We’re essentially looking at a workplace that’s rewarding mobility and specific skills while showing cracks in traditional corporate structures. The cities with the strongest wage growth aren’t the usual suspects – they’re affordable, growing markets where companies are expanding operations. And the skills that matter are shifting toward AI literacy and communication in tech-enhanced environments. For workers, the message seems clear: be willing to move, develop AI-adjacent skills, and don’t expect traditional corporate loyalty to pay off. For companies? They might need to address that growing leadership distrust while competing for talent in these emerging markets. It’s a messy transition, but the data doesn’t lie – the workplace of 2026 is taking shape right now, and it looks very different from what we’re used to.
