Survey shows major shift in work attitudes
keep the workforce healthier and happier, he told the Detroit Free Press.
“People who have a stable job with a company have come to the realization that there are other things in life beyond just making a ton of money, especially for women,” he said. “Some people would say we’re in a post-materialist world.”
Still, that’s not all, he said: “People have been burned in the last 20 years, several times. You work very hard to save and then the stock market takes a hit ... with all this volatility, who knows what’s going to happen. So why should I save for the future? Let me just enjoy life now.”
Diane Pacom, a sociology professor emeritus from the University of Ottawa in Canada, said the mindset of the current workforce has changed completely. And, again, women are a driving force, she said.
“Women approach work in a different way than men, most prioritizing the way they relate to their families. This is a huge change,” Pacom told the Detroit Free Press.
“We see women more and more as the ones who have the biggest influence on our rapport with work now. Their presence in society is more accepted and more powerful.”
“The good life for women is not related to work only,” she said. “They expect to have time for the kids, time for a love life, time for traveling.”
Respondents are also expressing a desire to get outdoors more often, how they’d like to reprioritize their time and take care of themselves, Brace said.
Anxiety, EVs and parenthood
The job of a futurist is to track social, technological, economic, environmental and political trends and shifts happening among consumers and society at large. Here are a few of Brace’s key findings.
Wellness: Survey responses indicate that people around the world are feeling anxious and trying to take action to find inner peace. The global data showed that:
44% of people are putting themselves before what others want or ask of them.
48% of people are cutting toxic relationships out of their life.
83% of adults agree that for children to be prepared for adulthood, mental health is more important than academic success.
Sustainability:
The term “family” is changing. No longer do the majority of individuals view family as being married or having kids, Brace said. Many adults say their ideal life in the next 10 years looks like having pets more than having children.
These changing attitudes are a byproduct of more awareness about medical realities, Guillen said. “Stress kills. Anything that helps reduce stress, people will go for it.”
Jason Moser, a clinical psychologist who teaches at Michigan State University, said he is not surprised by the study results, which he is seeing among college students now.
“Mental health is definitely in the public consciousness way more than it has been. The COVID pandemic pushed into sharp relief the notion of mental health, social contact, isolation, what it meant to be sad, not being able to connect with people.”
And planning for pets more than babies?
“Pets are less expensive than babies. You don’t have to worry as much,” he said. “It’s cheaper and the burden of responsibility is not as high.”