The Great Recalibration: What 54,000 Workers Are Really Telling Us About Modern Work

Something remarkable is happening in workplaces across the globe. Three major research projects—surveying over 54,000 workers spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa—have captured a moment of profound transformation.

Together, they paint a picture not of crisis, but of recalibration: a fundamental shift in what humans need from work, and what we're finally willing to ask for.

The CIPD's Good Work Index surveyed 5,017 UK workers, Randstad's Workmonitor reached 26,000+ people across 35 markets, and Deloitte spoke to 23,482 Gen Z and millennial workers across 44 countries. When you step back and look at what they're collectively revealing, patterns emerge that connect profoundly to what decades of nature connection research has been showing us: that humans need more than productivity metrics and paycheques to thrive.

When Balance Finally Overtakes the Paycheque

For 22 years, Randstad has been tracking what workers value most. And this year, for the first time in that entire history, something shifted. Work-life balance (valued by 85% globally) overtook pay (79%) as the top priority when people consider a job.

Let that sink in for a moment. After decades of "show me the money," workers are now saying "show me a life worth living."

According to the Randstad report, the gap is even more pronounced amongst younger workers, with 76% of Gen Z prioritising balance over pay at 63%. Mental health support now exceeds pay in importance for this generation, at 66% versus 63%. 

And when you consider that Gen Z and young millennial employees in Britain are losing the equivalent of one working day every week to mental health challenges—64% higher than their older colleagues (Vitality Research, 2024)—this prioritisation makes absolute sense.

Workers aren't being unrealistic. They're being human.

The Hidden Architecture of Stress—And What Nature Reveals About Relief

When the CIPD looked at UK workers specifically, they found that 25% report work negatively impacts their mental health, with a similar proportion saying the same about their physical health.

That's approximately 8.5 million people who believe their jobs are actively undermining their wellbeing.

But the research goes deeper, revealing the precise architecture of how work breaks us down. Seven in ten workers whose workload feels overwhelming report negative mental health impacts, compared to just 14% of those with manageable workloads. 

Deloitte's global research identifies the top stressors with striking clarity: long working hours and lack of recognition each affect nearly half of younger workers significantly (48% of Gen Zs and 47% of millennials), alongside toxic workplace cultures and unfair decision-making.

Here's where the nature connection research becomes illuminating. Whilst workplace stress activates our sympathetic nervous system—keeping us in a state of fight, flight, or freeze—studies show that engaging with nature can reduce these stress responses by up to 60% (Hunter et al., 2019). Urban nature experiences significantly reduce physiological stress markers, with a 21.3% per hour drop in cortisol (our primary stress hormone) and a 28.1% reduction in stress-indicating amylase levels (Hunter et al., 2019).

When people engage in forest bathing experiences, their pulse rate drops by 6%, blood pressure decreases by 1.7%, and parasympathetic nervous system activity—the biological foundation of emotional regulation—increases by 56% (Park et al., 2010). These aren't temporary feel-good moments; they're fundamental shifts in how our bodies process stress that can last for weeks.

The workers reporting overwhelming stress aren't weak. They're humans spending 93% of their time indoors (Klepeis et al., 2001), cut off from the very environments that help us regulate emotions and build resilience. Scientists call this the "extinction of experience" (Pyle, 2003), and it's profoundly affecting our capacity to handle workplace pressures.

The Belonging Gap—And How Nature Rebuilds Connection

Equally telling is the fact that, according to the Deloitte survey, 36% of Gen Zs and 33% of millennials say that not feeling included by their colleagues contributes substantially to their workplace stress.

We're social creatures who evolved in small, tightly connected groups. When modern work environments fail to provide that sense of belonging, it registers as a threat at a biological level.

This is where nature-based team experiences offer something remarkable. Research on forest bathing and nature connection consistently shows that shared experiences in natural settings strengthen bonds between people in ways that conference rooms simply cannot match. When teams solve problems together in natural environments, they demonstrate greater empathy, better communication, and more creative collaboration.

There's something about being amongst ancient trees, engaging our senses together, that dissolves the usual workplace hierarchies and allows authentic connection to emerge. It's why corporate team away days in London that incorporate forest bathing consistently help teams rediscover not just their relationship with the natural world, but with each other.

The Environmental Thread—When Personal and Planetary Wellbeing Converge

Perhaps one of the most fascinating findings from Deloitte's research is the environmental dimension to workplace wellbeing. Two-thirds of Gen Zs (65%) and millennials (63%) report feeling worried or anxious about the environment in the past month. These aren't passive worries—nearly half (48% of Gen Zs and 47% of millennials) report that they and their colleagues have put pressure on their employers to take action on protecting the environment.

And this matters for recruitment: 70% of both generations consider a company's environmental credentials important when evaluating potential employers.

Here's where decades of research on nature connectedness becomes particularly relevant. Studies consistently show that people who feel more emotionally connected to the natural world are significantly more likely to engage in pro-environmental behaviours (Whitburn et al., 2020).

As employees develop deeper connections with nature through workplace initiatives, we see a ripple effect: greater commitment to sustainability goals, improved mental health outcomes, and stronger organisational performance.

It's not three separate challenges—employee wellbeing, environmental sustainability, and organisational effectiveness. They're three aspects of the same fundamental question: how do we create systems where both people and planet can thrive? Our London-based carbon literacy training programmes recognise this, combining essential knowledge about climate action with immersive forest experiences that create visceral connections to what we're working to protect.

Money, Meaning, and the Life We Actually Want

Deloitte's research framework identifies three interconnected drivers they call money, meaning, and wellbeing. What's striking is how these interact—and how nature connection touches all three.

Financially, there's genuine pressure. For the fourth consecutive year, cost of living tops concerns for younger generations, with 39% of Gen Zs and 42% of millennials ranking it first. Nearly half report not feeling financially secure, and more than half are living paycheque to paycheque.

Yet when asked about meaningful work, more than half of both generations say it's very important when evaluating employers (54% of Gen Zs and 53% of millennials). And critically, 89% of Gen Zs and 92% of millennials state that purpose is important to job satisfaction and wellbeing.

The consequences of misalignment are tangible: 44% of Gen Zs and 45% of millennials have left roles they felt lacked purpose.

Recent research shows that when people engage with nature through the pathway of meaning—finding personal significance in natural experiences—they build deeper resilience resources. Even simple practices like noting "three good things in nature" for just 10 minutes, five times over eight days, create significant improvements in happiness and emotional resilience that persist well beyond the intervention period (Pocock et al., 2023).

Purpose isn't an abstract concept. It's feeling connected to something larger than quarterly targets. It's understanding your work matters not just for profit, but for the living world we're part of.

When Work Heals Instead of Harms

The CIPD data reveals something hopeful: when work positively impacts mental health, remarkable things happen.

The discovery? Of workers who believed their work had a positive impact on their mental health, 93% were likely to be satisfied with their jobs versus 37% of those experiencing negative impacts.

They're 77% likely to recommend their employer versus 29%. They're 69% likely to work harder than required versus 39%. And only 14% intend to quit within twelve months, compared to 34% of those whose work negatively impacts their mental health.

The question becomes: how do we create conditions where work genuinely supports wellbeing?

Workers with views of nature handle calls 6-7% faster, take 11 hours less sick leave annually, and show 23% less absenteeism overall (Business in the Community, 2021). But these figures only hint at something deeper. Four days of nature immersion improves creative problem-solving performance by 50% compared to control groups (Atchley et al., 2012). Nature experiences support creativity through dual pathways: by restoring our capacity for focused attention whilst enabling the mind-wandering that leads to new insights (Williams et al., 2018).

When London organisations create opportunities for genuine nature connection—not token tree-planting but meaningful engagement through corporate employee wellbeing experiences, nature-based team development, or programmes that weave natural rhythms into work culture—remarkable transformations occur. Stress decreases, creativity increases, teams strengthen, and that elusive sense of purpose becomes tangible.

What 54,000 Voices Are Telling Us

These three surveys, capturing voices from across the globe and across generations, aren't describing crisis. They're describing awakening.

The 8.5 million UK workers reporting negative mental health impacts from work aren't failing. They're showing us that something fundamental needs to change in how we structure work and life.

The historic shift where balance overtook pay isn't about people becoming less ambitious. It's about recognising that ambition must serve life, not consume it.

The environmental anxiety affecting two-thirds of younger workers isn't a distraction from business priorities. It's a signal that personal wellbeing and planetary health are inseparable—and that organisations addressing both will attract and retain the best talent.

Research on nature-based resilience shows us a pathway forward. The forest has been developing resilience strategies for millions of years. Trees support their vulnerable members, communicate, share resources, adapt whilst staying rooted. These aren't metaphors; they're practical strategies that London companies can bring into their organisations through thoughtfully designed nature connection programmes.

The research is clear. The need is evident. The question isn't whether nature connection can address what these 54,000 workers are telling us they need. The research proves it can.

The question is whether we're ready to build workplaces that recognise what humans have always known: that we need more than paycheques and productivity metrics. We need balance, meaning, connection, and regular contact with something older and wiser than quarterly targets.

Perhaps that's not revolutionary at all. Perhaps it's simply remembering.

This article synthesises findings from three major 2025 workplace surveys: the CIPD Good Work Index 2025 (surveying 5,017 UK employees in January-February 2025), Randstad's Workmonitor 2025 (surveying 26,000+ workers across 35 markets in Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas in October-November 2024), and Deloitte's 2025 Gen Z and Millennial Survey (surveying 23,482 respondents across 44 countries in North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia-Pacific in October-December 2024), alongside peer-reviewed research on nature connection and workplace wellbeing.