Forty percent of U.S. workers believe that work is fundamentally broken, and 1 in 5 wish they didn’t have to work at all, according to Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends Study.

Employees today feel that their productivity is being drained by too much busy work and not enough time to focus, said Kate Bravery, who leads Mercer’s Global Advisory Solutions & Insights practice, during a webinar discussing the study’s results. Employees also pointed to ineffective organizational structures, unsustainable workloads, and a desire for greater direction and feedback.