Oliver Wyman Forum, the think tank of Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting form and a business of Marsh, has released a comprehensive study of consumer and workplace sentiment. The report shows that geoeconomic and technological disruptions are increasing emotional strain and fundamentally reshaping how people invest, shop, work, use technology, and engage with the healthcare system.
“Our data reveals a pattern of ‘more striving, less thriving.’ We are seeing a treadmill effect where higher individual effort is yielding diminishing emotional returns. For businesses and leaders, this signals a need to adjust strategies to align with a workforce and consumer base that is becoming more demanding, more independent, and increasingly reliant on AI,” says Ana Kreacic, COO of the Oliver Wyman Forum, and the author of the report.
Key findings from the report include the following.
- Financial independence has become a defining goal and source of anxiety. Financial independence has emerged as the fastest-growing unmet need among respondents, rising to 41% from 32% in 2022. This shift is accompanied by heightening anxiety; the pressure to make money to feel successful has nearly doubled over the same period. Consequently, the interest in the FIRE (financial independence, retire early) movement has jumped from 24% to 37%, and financial literacy is now cited as the top skill individuals wish they had learned earlier in life.
- Fulfillment has become a central workplace expectation and leadership challenge. The need for fulfillment in the workplace is reported as the second most important job quality, up six spots in the ranking from 2023 trailing only behind compensation. However, dissatisfaction with leadership is mounting. Over half (51%) of respondents view current leadership models as outdated, and complaints regarding “subpar leadership” have increased nearly 60% since 2023.
- This is the last generation to work only with humans. Two-thirds of employees (67%) now interact with AI in conversational, human-like ways, and 28% would prefer an AI manager over a human one. However, the integration of software agents and autonomous robots is creating uncertainty regarding role clarity and performance standards for many workers.
