New survey shows shift in attitudes on money
52% would take pay cut for fewer hours at work
DETROIT – A new survey conducted by Ford Motor Co. found that 52% of employed people globally would be willing to take a 20% pay cut for better work-life balance.
“It shocked us. I’ll be honest,” said Jen Brace, chief futurist at Ford who coordinated the 2024 Trend Report and its findings. “A 20% pay cut is a big deal. I didn’t think we’d get the level of response in terms of number of people; 52% is huge. If you look generationally, and if you look in the U.S. in particular, you saw our younger generations being even more willing to give up money for a better quality of life.”
In the U.S., the responses by age willing to take the 20% pay cut: Generation Z (born between 1997-2012) was 56%; millennials (born between 198196) was 60%; Gen X (born between 1965-80) was 43%; and baby boomers (born between 1946-64) was 33%.
The survey – conducted via 16,086 online interviews in August and September with people 18 years and older in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States – also found that 77% of respondents prioritize a balanced life over advancement at work.
The latest findings show a significant value of time over money among groups of all ages, Ford said. This is the first year the study has presented a question about a potential pay cut in exchange for working less.
While looking at work-life balance, people express having more anxiety, feeling overwhelmed and stressed out about the state of their mental health, Brace said.
“It’s a shift,” she said. “They’re saying, ‘I’m not willing to give up all these things in my life. I’m not willing to put my family time on hold for work. I want to focus on me.‘ ”
Caring less about money
Mauro Guillen, a professor at the Wharton School of Management at the University of Pennsylvania, said Americans are just now catching up to the European idea of leisure being more valuable than higher income, which doesn’t actually impact a company’s productivity. But it does keep the workforce healthier and happier, he said.
“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,” Guillen said. “Some people would say we’re in a post-materialist world, that people are caring less about material things and more about quality of life. Values have shifted.”
Still, that’s not all, he said: “People have realized that you work more because you want to save more money. But 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.
“The good life for women is not related to work only. They expect to have time for the kids, time for a love life, time for traveling,” she said.
These themes also help Ford better understand and connect with consumers, the company said.
Findings show that the vehicle is sort of like “the new dinner table,” Brace said. “When it comes to connecting with your family, sometimes the vehicle is the best place to do that. You’ve got a captive audience when you’re all in the same space.”
Respondents are also expressing a desire to get outdoors more often, how they’d like to re-prioritize their time and take care of themselves, Brace said. “A lot of our vehicles are geared for that, getting out there and experiencing nature. “
Brace, who took over as chief futurist last year, comes from a background of human-centered design and experience. Brace spent several years in the Ford lab in Palo Alto, California, where she worked on research and experiences in autonomous vehicles.
Changing social attitudes and field research inform design, innovation and marketing campaign themes.
The job of the futurist is to track social, technological, economic, environmental and political trends and shifts happening among consumers and society at large. Among the the key findings:
Wellness: Survey responses indicate that people around the world are feeling anxious and trying to take actions 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: Fewer people say they’re changing their behavior to actively fight climate change with 75% in 2023, down from 78% in 2020.