The consequences of mergers on employee well-being are far-reaching

Mergers and acquisitions impact employee well-being throughout entire organisations. However, to employees at the smallest merger party, the merger is a much greater burden; this is reflected in less trust, less solidarity and a lack of purpose when working together.

For the first time ever, the 2026 well-being survey of Finansforbundet examines the consequences of mergers and acquisitions on employees.

The results point to three key conclusions:

Firstly, mergers and acquisitions pose a challenge to employee well-being throughout the entire organisation in question. It is not a problem that can be reduced to affecting only employees of the smallest merger party.

Secondly, the human cost is distributed unevenly. Employees at the smallest merger party perceive the merger as a significantly greater burden – with twice as many reporting low well-being, a perception of less fairness and communication, and far less trust and loyalty.

Thirdly,  trust, inclusion and fair processes are essential tools – and this is precisely where the survey reveals the greatest shortcomings.  Communication alone is not enough if employees feel they have no say in the process, and if, at the same time, trust in the company is under pressure.

Well-being

Among employees at merged companies, 34 per cent report to be satisfied to a lesser extent or not at all, compared with 26 per cent of members in general.

The picture becomes even clearer when the two groups are analysed separately. In the continuing companies, 24 per cent are satisfied to a lesser extent or not at all. In the smallest merger parties, the corresponding figure is – with 48 per cent – twice as high.

Management and fairness

The perception of fairness in the change process is a well-established indicator of organisational trust and psychological safety. The well-being survey shows that only 20 per cent of employees at the smallest merger party feel that changes have been handled fairly – compared to 39 per cent at the continuing companies.

These figures should not be understood as a defence of the way the continuing companies have handled the situations. The fact that a mere 39 per cent of continuing companies' own employees perceive the process as fair is, in itself, a serious sign to management.

Communication and involvement

Communication about change is a consistent challenge for both groups, though to a markedly different degree. Only 27 per cent of employees at the smallest merger party feel they have received sufficient information about the changes to a great or very great extent, compared with 49 per cent at the surviving companies.

Furthermore, in both groups, only a very small proportion feel they have actually had a say in the change process: a mere 2 per cent of the smallest merger parties and 4 per cent of the largest merger parties.

Trust and loyalty

At the smallest merger parties, 63 per cent feel that trust in the company has been negatively affected by the changes. At the largest merger parties, that figure is 30 per cent. Nearly one-third of all employees at continuing companies report a decline in trust. Trust in the company is not only a matter of employee well-being – it is a prerequisite for organisational efficiency, collaboration and the ability to adapt to change.

Loyalty is affected down the same lines: 41 per cent of employees at the largest merger companies and 51 per cent at the smallest merger companies feel that their loyalty to the company has been adversely affected. This reflects the fact that a loss of trust and loyalty is not limited to those acquired – it is a broader organisational reaction to the nature of the change process.