As automation rises, the work that is left requires a decidedly human touch, such as complex problem-solving and collaboration.

We see it every day at Slack, even as we build this very technology. We believe that any analysis of trends and technology is secondary to the human experience of those trends and technology. (Yes, this from a software company.) So when we set out to better understand the state of work today, we were eager to explore first-person attitudes and experiences. How do these core beliefs about work affect worker engagement and organizational success? What we learned is revealed in this analysis.

Slack’s State of Work report draws from 17,000 knowledge workers, up and down the organizational chart, from CEOs to frontline employees, ages 16 to 64. They live in 10 countries, span more than 40 industries, and work for companies of all stages and sizes, from “micro-emerging” businesses to large, well-established enterprises. There are startups less than a year old and companies in business for more than 50 years. To contextualize the data, we conducted in-depth interviews with economists, workplace psychologists and frontline workers themselves.