![]() ![]() But the pandemic shifted this outlook again, especially with the integration of remote and hybrid work. This emergence of hustle culture led to a de-prioritsation of work-life balance for some employees. “We saw the best entrepreneurs bragging that they work 100-hour weeks … There was this idea that long hours would show you were committed and a good worker.” “It became quite ideological, this idea that, being busy, being constantly available makes you a really good professional,” she says. Now people were reachable at all times – during the holidays, during weekends with the family.”īut rather than clawing back for these hard lines, says Lupu, corporate culture took up the mantle of overwork, and wore it as a badge of honour. “Before, of course, you could get a phone call, but most of the time you couldn’t necessarily access your work files or anything, so it was more difficult to take work home. “It happened at first when they all got Blackberries,” says Lupu. As the internet, email and eventually smartphones found their way into the workplace, they changed not only the way workers got their jobs done, but also the shape and span of the workday. Yet for many workers, this cut-and-dry barrier eroded as new technology arose at the turn of the millennium. Ioana Lupu, associate professor of accounting and management at Paris’ ESSEC Business School, says the happiest professionsals she speaks to manage to “compartmentalize, to disconnect, to switch off without guilt from work”. It was a big step – and one that remains critical to the central idea of work-life balance today. As workers won the right to an eight-hour workday, work-life balance – even if it was not explicitly labelled as such – was commonly defined as the ability to compartmentalize job tasks and life. The idea of work-life balance largely emerged during the widespread take-up of the eight-hour workday in the early 20th Century – something workers fought for through organizing and striking. Instead of simply walking away at 1700, work-life balance now is broader, deeper and more nuanced – and it is no longer a one-size-fits-all equation. This communication enables them to address their personal lives in the context of their careers, and create the life they want. Increasingly, employees say the idea encompasses a holistically healthy work environment that allows for an open dialogue between employees and employers. What workers see as work-life balance has broadened. Yes, flexible schedules are a major part of how workers define work-life balance. ![]() So what, exactly, does this term mean to workers right now? The definition of work-life balance has changed dramatically throughout the past several years, with the demise of strict 9-to-5 hours and increase in remote work. It’s similar in the US: of 4,000 respondents to the FlexJobs 2022 Career Pulse Survey, 63% said they’d choose work-life balance over better pay. In 2021, data from a survey of more than 9,000 UK workers showed 65% of job seekers prioritized work-life balance over pay and benefits. Amid the vast uncertainty of the pandemic era, one thing is clear: more than ever – and more than anything – people want a healthy work-life balance. ![]()
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