A Peep into the Aspects of Work-life Balance

The term Work-life balance is defined to describe a person’s needs between the time allocated for work or job and other aspects of life. Areas of life other than work life may be but not limited to personal interests, family and social/leisure activities.

The term – “Work-life Balance is of recent origin using in 1970 and late 1980s in the United States and the United Kingdom. Work-life balance is also known as work-life integration, which means creating workspaces that promote health, happiness, and freedom of an employee.

The importance of work-life balance is even more relevant today due to an increase in the work expectations and challenges from the jobs of the corporate especially in the information technology or IT sector. The unrealistic work targets or goals and single-minded ambition regarding the work are triggering an unhealthy work-life balance in employees especially those holding higher designations such as a CEOs, CFOs, and Directors etc.

In a recent study from Ernst & Young has reported that 1 in 3 global employees are unable to maintain or keep work and life in balance. According to 2010 National Health Interview Survey Occupational Health Supplement or NHISOHS, about 16% of workers in the United States are reported to having difficulty in balancing work and family.

Globally, Japan is renowned for its position as the nation with an extreme end of poor work-life balance often referred to as “Karoshi” a term that means “death by overwork”. Therefore, it is important for this generation of millennial employees to achieve a healthy work-life balance which is more crucial than taking a fat paycheck and a collaborative work environment to inspire loyalty.