Guy Emmerson, associate director of Badenoch & Clark, said: “As recruitment activity levels pick up, employers need to consider the strength of their relationship with employees across all levels of the business, or run the risk of staff voting with their feet.”

He added: “Younger employees – the so-called Generation Y – have specific expectations of their employers, so encouraging more two-way conversations on business performance will prove vital to increasing levels of trust and gauging job satisfaction. Without this it will be become harder to obtain any kind of staff loyalty and in turn retain talented graduates.”

Those in the legal profession were particularly sceptical of their employers, with 36.9pc of employees across all age ranges stating that they did not believe “most” or “any” of what their employers told them about business performance. Just one in 10 workers said they “totally trust” their employer, the study showed.

Mr Emmerson said: “This research highlights the detrimental impact the recession has had on the workforce, not just in terms of job losses and pay freezes, but in terms of the relationship between employer and employee. Now is the time to start repairing this relationship and being more honest and open with employees about business performance.”

Source: Telegraph