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Work-Life Balance: As Challenging As Ever
Work-life balance, a concept pulled from the technological revolution, is
quickly turning into one of the most important benefits to workers. However,
only few declare to have it.
The Challenge: Balancing Work & Life
The International Career Institute commissioned a special research and found out
that 79 percent of Australian workers think that work-life balance is indeed
getting harder to achieve. Over 900 individuals participated in the survey,
which revealed that men have better chances attaining healthy work-life balance
compared to women. Baby Boomers are said to have the easiest time creating a
balance while workers who are part of Generation X had the least success. As a
nation though, it's more challenging for us to draw the line between work and
play. According to a report from the Randstad World of Work, 26 percent of
workers who have no plans to quit their job for at least a year do so because of
work-life balance.
Employees who possess the most flexible working atmospheres are those in the
health and community care sector (65 percent). Workers in the finance, banking
and accounting sectors follow closely at 54 percent while only 38 percent of
those in the logistics, transport and manufacturing are said to experience work
environment that is flexible.
The International Career Institute has reasons to believe that work-life balance
carries strong associations to technology. The ICI faculty emphasised that the
term work-life balance surfaced in the '90s, roughly around the same time
technology boom emerged. The term took off as the tech boom gained momentum,
people started to talk about how many hours they were working. Laptops were
first introduced and with it came opportunities to work remotely. Then smart
phones arrived, creating the biggest impact in the scene. "Thanks to
smartphones such as the Blackberry and the iPhone, you are now never not at
work," said David Alexander, the International Career Institute's Director of
Student Services.
Alexander clarified how job insecurity resulting from global financial crisis
intensified the need to be available at all times: "People are uneasy about
asking to take time off because they are worried about losing their jobs." The
conventional work-life balance model became outmoded. He concluded, "It's more
about work/life blend, where work and life are blended and complement each other
rather than compete with each other."
Career change might be an answer to finding work-life balance. Take the example
of Cassandra Guernsey, an ICI Nutrition graduate. She set out to create her
perfect work-life balance by re-training as a nutritional adviser. Now she runs
her own nutrition consultancy around her home life. "As a single mum with three
children, I found it difficult to get up, get the kids to school, go to work,
come home, make dinner and have work follow me home. It was really quite
stressful with no time for myself." The unfortunate reality for most people in
this modern age is that the work-life balance will continue to challenge
traditional working patterns for the foreseeable future.
THE FACTS
The majority (71%) of those who work overtime prefer payment to time off in lieu 81% of part-time workers believe work-life balance is becoming harder 84% of full-time employees believe it is becoming harder 27% of workers earning less than $50,000 are finding it much harder 67 percent of workers perform work tasks or reply work-related calls when they
are on holiday 33 percent of employees never work on holidays or days off
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