As we are in the midst of our own holiday season, we have been thinking about how much the “work life balance” has changed over the last 15 years.
Teenagers and young adults – the so-called Generation Y – have watched with horror as their parents worked punishing hours in their scramble for money and status. Now, as this group go in search of jobs, they have different priorities. They care less about salaries, and more about flexible working, time to travel and a better work-life balance. And employers are having to meet their demand. A study found that 85 per cent of Generation Y’s (19-25 year olds) wanted to spend 30 per cent to 70 per cent of their time working from home. More than half wanted a flexible working arrangement.
The top priority when choosing a job was ‘doing work that I love’. ‘Earning lots of money’ was far behind, in seventh place. When it came to walking away from an employer, a lack of motivation was the top reason followed by a work-life balance leaning too far towards the job. ‘The Boomer generation (who are over 45) created the culture of long working hours and X’ers [aged between 28 and 45] reluctantly accepted it,’ the report said’. But not Generation Y. While they are not work-shy, they don’t live to work. They will get the job done on time … but on their own terms.’
