In August 2015 we surveyed our global community to learn why so many people were joining Escape the City and why they were feeling unfulfilled in their work. Here are some of the headline stats:

• 71% want to have a clearer sense of purpose in their career
• 51% have experienced negative physical or mental health issues as a result of their current job
• 64% would like to make more of a social impact through their work

Read the full study in the next lecture.

The job dissatisfaction trend is well documented – but what is causing it? We found three core trends driving global dissatisfaction:

Independent working is on the rise.

The rise of the independent worker has characterised the past decade, with over 1 in 7 of the UK workforce currently listed as self-employed. It is expected by 2020 that the freelance workforce will account for 40% of the working world. According to Oxford Economics, self-employment will also increase by 15% in the next ten years.

We've seen an explosion of remote working, communications and productivity technologies.

It's clear that technology has revolutionised our working lives. It's allowing more people the freedom to work from exotic, remote locations, and more importantly, from a growing number of home offices. In June 2014 there were 4.2 million home workers in the UK, the highest level of home working since comparable records began, and an increase of 1.3 million since 1998.

Co-working spaces have made their mark.

There are over 800 co-working spaces in London alone, and more are popping up each month. The co-working company WeWork was recently valued at $15 billion, signifying the economic significance of co-working and its future potential.The same trend is happening the world over. Whether you’re in Santiago, Sarajevo, or Sydney, how we work and where we work is changing.