Wednesday, January 7, 2009

News You Can Use: Employees resolve to have better work-life balance

Ninety-six percent of full-time, U.S. workers say it will be equally or more important to find a better work-life balance in 2009, according to a new survey from FedEx Office.

Age is an important factor in the pursuit of work-life balance. As age increased, respondents were less likely to seek better work-life balance, possibly indicating that an acceptable level of balance has already been reached in older age groups.

To achieve their goal of better balance, 49% of full-time U.S. workers plan to take advantage of all their vacation time, while 41% plan to leave work at a reasonable hour, and 36% plan to take lunch breaks on a consistent basis. Another 29% plan to avoid doing work at home or during off-hours, while 24% will consider starting their work day earlier in the morning, and 21% plan to take advantage of flex-time options, the survey found.

Despite the recession and rising unemployment rate, 11% of full-time U.S. workers plan to find a better job, change jobs or change work locations as a way to find better work-life balance in 2009. --Leah Carlson Shepherd

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder if the reason that people who are older aren't pursuing a work life balance is because they feel like they've been stuck in the same routine so long, that they aren't able to change?

Kelley said...

Goodness, I hope not! I'd like to think we're all capable of change. However, I do think that the idea of work-life balance is generational, and that older workers are more likely to make their life fit their work, as opposed to younger workers who seem to seek the opposite. Thanks for the comment!