Episode 2

full
Published on:

8th Apr 2026

What the 2026 Global Talent Trends Report Reveals About a Workforce in Crisis with Kate Bravery

Jason Lauritsen sits down with Kate Bravery, Senior Partner and Global Leader of Talent Advisory at Mercer, to dig into the findings from Global Talent Trends report. Now in its 11th year, the study draws on more than 12,000 voices across 24 countries and 16 industries, capturing the perspectives of employee experience, leadership, AI adoption, and the growing pressure on organizations to deliver stronger performance in a workforce that is increasingly depleted and disengaged.

At the center of this episode is a hard truth: work is no longer working for a lot of people. Kate shares that only 44% of employees in this year’s study say they are thriving, the lowest level Mercer has seen in more than a decade. At the same time, executives are pushing for faster productivity gains, more aggressive transformation, and deeper AI integration. The tension between those two realities is where this conversation lives, and Kate helps us see it clearly.

Key highlights from the conversation include:

👉 Mercer's latest data shows employee thriving has fallen to 44%, the lowest level they’ve seen in more than a decade.

👉 Employees are feeling the strain of pay pressure, slower career growth, and people systems that no longer match how fast work is changing.

👉 Kate explains the “proximity paradox,” where access to AI tools can actually raise anxiety when leaders aren’t helping people understand what changes.

👉 The gap between executive priorities and HR priorities is still there, with leaders pushing for AI-driven performance while HR is still trying to modernize the basics.

👉 Jason and Kate explore how AI could help HR move from slow, backward-looking processes to faster, more responsive support for employees and managers.

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Connect with Kate:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-bravery/

Global Talent Trends 2025 Report: https://www.mercer.com/insights/people-strategy/future-of-work/global-talent-trends/

***

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Connect with Jason:

Website: https://jasonlauritsen.com/

YouTube: youtube.com/@jasonlauritsenvideo

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/jasonlauritsen

Instagram: instagram.com/jasonlauritsen

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About the Podcast

Unlocking High Performance
How leaders unlock performance by creating the conditions for people to do their best work
Unlocking High Performance is a podcast for leaders who want strong results without burning their people out in the process.

Hosted by Jason Lauritsen, the show explores how clarity, alignment, and connection shape performance at work. Jason draws from his work with CEOs, executive teams, and leaders to examine why work so often becomes heavier, slower, and more frustrating than it needs to be and how to fix it.

Some episodes are solo reflections. Others are conversations with leaders and practitioners navigating real constraints and consequences. Each conversation looks beyond tactics to understand the leadership and organizational conditions that make performance possible.

The podcast focuses on the systems that drive performance, not leadership theory or quick fixes. Listeners will walk away with a clearer understanding of how work actually gets done and how to build environments where people perform at their best.

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Jason Lauritsen