Sogolytics Quarterly EX Index: Survey Anonymity Impacts Employee Engagement as AI Job Fears Ease

Sogolytics today released the Sogolytics Experience Index: Employee Edition Q3 2026, examining how 1,000 full-time U.S. employees feel about their jobs, their employers, AI and the future of work. The Q3 reading is the fourth cycle in a quarterly series that now covers more than 3,800 full-time U.S. employees across a wide range of industries, job levels and company sizes. 

Employers ask for feedback more often than employees trust the process behind it. Only 42% of employees are confident that feedback is truly anonymous when anonymity is promised that that doubt aligns with their reported frequency in responding to employer surveys. At the same time, the AI concern that loomed largest in Q2 lost more ground this quarter than any other. 

Key Findings 

• Doubt about anonymity holds down response. Among employees who are very confident feedback is truly anonymous; 79% respond regularly, compared with 38% of those who are not at all, slightly or moderately confident. 
• The loudest AI fear from Q2 eased the most. Concern about job security or replacement fell from 33% to 25%, the largest drop among the 13 AI concerns tracked, moving it from second place to fifth. 
• Feedback that leads to change is the strongest predictor of satisfaction. 90% of employees who say feedback usually or always leads to change are satisfied with their job, compared with 36% of those who say it almost never does, a gap that widened from 35 points in 2025 to 54 in Q3. 
• Salary is the top priority and one of the weakest areas. Salary is the most-frequently named driver of satisfaction at 44%, yet only 60% say their employer delivers on it well, among the three lowest-rated of 10 factors measured. 
• Hybrid is gaining on the office. 34% of employees prefer to work fully in the office, down from 41% in Q2, while hybrid preference rose from 17% to 22%. 

Doubt About Anonymity Holds Down Response Rates 

Confidence in anonymity follows job levels. Two-thirds of executives (66%) are confident or very confident that feedback is truly anonymous when anonymity is promised, compared with 29% of frontline employees. At the same time, 58% of all employees say knowing a response is anonymous makes them more likely to respond. 

That confidence shows up in behavior. Among employees who are very confident feedback is anonymous, 79% always or usually respond to feedback requests. Among those who are not at all, slightly or moderately confident, 38% do. 

The Loudest AI Fear from Q2 Eased the Most 

Concern about job security or replacement as an AI risk fell from 33% in Q2 to 25% in Q3, the largest drop among the 13 AI concerns tracked, moving it from second place to fifth. Privacy and data protection and lack of human oversight are now the top AI concerns, each named by 32% of employees. 

Employees remain divided on AI at work. Fewer than half (43%) call AI tools useful, 32% call them somewhat unnecessary or a waste of time, and 22% say AI should not be used at work at all. Among AI users, 57% say AI saves them an hour or more in a typical work week, while 23% say it saves no time. 

The benefit is uneven. Employees ages 18 to 27 are far more likely than those 60 and older to say AI improves the quality of their work moderately or significantly, at 63% versus 40%, as are executives compared with frontline employees, at 70% versus 40%. 

The Satisfaction Gap Between Heard and Ignored Employees Widens to 54 Points 

Employers ask for input far more often than they act on it. Three in four employees (76%) say their employer seeks their input a few times a year or more, but only 34% say feedback usually or always leads to meaningful change, and 16% say it almost never does. 

Among employees who say feedback usually or always leads to change, 90% are satisfied with their job, a figure that has stayed between 89% and 93% across all four cycles. Among those who say it almost never does, satisfaction has slipped every cycle, from 55% in 2025 to 36% in Q3. 

Where an employee sits shapes what they see. Executives are nearly twice as likely as frontline employees to say their employer seeks input often or very often, at 72% versus 38%, and more than twice as likely to say feedback usually or always leads to change, at 56% versus 21%. 

Salary Leads Every Satisfaction Driver but Trails on Employer Delivery 

Salary has been the top driver of job satisfaction in all four cycles and in every age group, named by 44% of employees in Q3, ahead of work-life balance (37%). More than half of employees rate their employer well on every factor measured, but salary delivery sits at 60%, among the three lowest-rated factors alongside career growth (58%) and flexibility in work location (56%). 

Women are less likely than men to say their employer delivers on salary, a pattern that has held in every cycle. In Q3, 21% of women rate salary delivery poorly, compared with 15% of men. 

Pay also shapes retention. Six in 10 employees (60%) say they are very likely to stay with their current employer over the next year, compared with 63% in Q2. Even within that group, 46% would still leave for better pay and benefits elsewhere. 

                              < Read the full Quarterly EX Index here >

Hybrid Gains as Fully In-Office Preference Slips 

Office work remains the most popular arrangement, but its lead narrowed in Q3. The share of employees who prefer to work fully in the office fell from 41% in Q2 to 34%, while hybrid rose from 17% to 22%. Half (50%) say four or five days in the office is ideal, down from 57% in Q2. 

More than half of employees (55%) would accept a lower salary in exchange for more remote flexibility. Age splits that willingness sharply. Among employees 60 and older, 66% would not give up any salary for more flexibility, compared with 24% of those ages 18 to 27.