Rethinking what we need from work: Inside Employees' Minds 2022-2023 

After two years of continual existential crises — the pandemic, a war in Europe, inflation, and political and social upheaval — employees are more focused on securing their financial, physical, and emotional health and well-being than by achievement and climbing the ladder.

This is a significant change from when we conducted this survey in 2021. During the height of the pandemic, organizations provided deep support to their employees in four critical ways:

• They communicated
  
• They focused on health and safety needs
  
• They allowed greater flexibility
  
• They led with empathy

This support led to increased engagement and commitment from employees during the onset of the pandemic. But now, cumulative stressors and fears are causing many employees to feel less supported than last year. 

The labor shortage and the ‘great resignation’ are taking their toll, particularly on frontline employees. While 3 out of 4 employees say they can maintain balance between their personal and work life, work life balance remains a top 3 concern, and half of employees say they feel exhausted on a typical day. 

This year’s Inside Employees’ Minds study shows significant declines in employee satisfaction across the board, most noticeably in compensation, benefits, and career goals. Employee commitment to the company saw an eight-point drop since last year.

Download the full report to discover the six key findings from this year’s Inside Employee Minds© study and reveal where employers should focus to keep up their end of the lifestyle contract.

This study includes 4,049 full-time employees in the United States, working for organizations with more than 250 employees. The study was fielded between August 26 and September 9, 2022.

How are employer and employee expectations aligning – and what’s next in flexible working? Discover the highlights from Mercer’s 2022 Flexible Working Policies and Practices survey which spanned 749 US Employers and see key insights from the 2022 Inside Employees Minds Report which captured the feedback from over 4,000 US employees.