A commentary on Jennifer Moss’ hopeful vision of workplace culture in Why Are We Here: Creating a Work Culture Everyone Wants
There’s a quiet question running underneath most conversations about work today, even when we don’t say it out loud.
The pandemic, increasing burnout rates, inflation and global economic uncertainty, and more recently, widespread return-to-office mandates and the rapid expansion of AI… Workers have never been more anxious or more unsure of where they fit in the workplace.
Now more than ever, when starting their workday, employees ask themselves:
If we’re easily replaceable, uncertain about our future ability to buy a house or even afford rent, and if previously acquired flexibility is taken away, then… Why are we here?
Jennifer Moss’ book Why Are We Here? Creating a Culture of Work Everyone Wants begins with that question, and rather than offering yet another corporate checklist or dire visions of the future of work, it offers something rarer (and more than welcome in this day and age!): a hopeful reimagining of the workplace as a more human space.
Work Culture as One of the Defining Tensions of Modern Life
Work culture has become one of the defining tensions of modern life, especially for younger generations.
Burnout is no longer an exception. Disengagement is widespread. And many people are no longer asking how to climb the ladder, but whether the ladder is even worth climbing.
Considering the time we spend at work and the impact it has on our existence, it is no wonder that this unhappiness would bleed into our personal lives.
Moss writes into this moment with clarity: she acknowledges how fractured the workplace can feel, but she refuses to treat that fracture as inevitable.
Her central argument is simple, yet radical: work should not be something we do merely to survive. It can be something we belong to.
What Resonated With Me in Why Are We Here
Here are themes that stuck out to me while reading Jennifer Moss’ book — and will colour how I think and write about HR for a long time:
The disconnect between older and younger generations is a crucial challenge
According to the World Happiness Report, while Canada was ranked as the fifteenth happiest country in the world, the country’s rank plummets to fifty-eighth when you consider Canadians under thirty.
This is one of the many examples of the unhappiness and uncertainty that plagues young generations of workers.
At the same time, Baby Boomer Burnout is on the rise, and Gen X workers continue to feel overlooked at work.
Yet, we have never been more eager to criticize generations we don’t belong to or less willing to bridge the gap between Boomers, Gen X, Millennials or Gen Z workers.
The answer to this challenge, according to Jennifer Moss, is openness. “If our goal is to build bridges, we have to accept that subconscious cognitive bias exists… Choosing not to be biased is harder than most people realize. However, behaviors are adaptive, so we can both learn and unlearn bias… Instead, we need to see every person as exceptional with a full, complicated, and fascinating life.”
Cynicism and apathy are not the answer
I won’t lie: the stats I have dutifully written down when reading Why Are We Here were mostly alarming.
This one, in particular, stuck with me:
“Two in five workers believe that the world of work is fundamentally broken and one in four wish they didn’t have to work at all” (Mercer’s 2024 Global Talent Trends).
However, what I appreciated most about the book is its refusal to accept cynicism as a marker of maturity. In the workplace, optimism can sometimes be dismissed as naïve. Instead, Moss treats hope as a discipline that leaders must actively practice and convey to their teams.
Wider Reflection on the Future of Work
In an era where AI accelerates everything and younger generations demand meaning rather than loyalty, the workplace is being renegotiated in real time. In this context, cynicism should not be our “go-to”. Now more than ever, the choices leaders make today will shape the future of work… for better or worse.
Moss’ book feels timely because, in these trying times, it reminds us that culture is not secondary to strategy. Culture is the strategy. The workplaces that will thrive are not necessarily the most efficient, but the most human!
Practical Ways to Improve Workplace Culture in 2026
If Moss’ book offers a hopeful lens, the question becomes: what does building that kind of workplace culture look like in practice as we move into 2026?
Here are a few grounded shifts that organizations can make:
1. Treat flexibility as trust, not a perk
The future of work cannot be built on constant rollback. Workplace flexibility is no longer a “bonus”, it is part of how employees measure dignity, autonomy, and respect.
2. Invest in managers as culture carriers
Culture is experienced most directly through one person: your manager. Training leaders in empathy, feedback, and psychological safety is no longer optional: it’s foundational.
3. Create space for intergenerational learning
Instead of framing generations as opposing forces, workplaces can treat them as complementary.
Mentorship should go both ways:
- Experience sharing downward
- Innovation and new expectations flowing upward
4. Make AI a cultural question, not just a tech one
Artificial intelligence will reshape jobs, but it will also reshape trust. Leaders must communicate now, and clearly: What is changing? What is protected? How will people be supported through transition?
5. Build meaning into the everyday, not just mission statements
Employees don’t find purpose in posters. They find it in recognition, growth opportunities, their sense of belonging and being treated as more than an output for productivity.
Closing Thoughts
There is a lot more I could say about Why Are We Here. Leaders, HR pros, or anyone interested in workplace culture and its challenges: go read it! It was a quick, insightful read that felt grounding in today’s shaky context.
And perhaps the question isn’t only why are we here. Perhaps it’s also: what kind of workplace are we choosing to create — together — next?
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