Majority of UK workers happy with work life balance, claims report

A new report from private bank Investec claims that three quarters of the UK’s professionals working in fields such as law, finance and healthcare are happy with the current balance between their work and personal life. The survey of 2,000 people suggests that just a quarter (25 percent) claim to be unhappy with their work life balance and a third (32 percent) say that their friends and family would describe them as ‘workaholics’. However, a third (33 percent) are also confident of an improvement in their work life balance over the next five years even though the same proportion also claim that the past five years have seen it decline since 2010. Workers in London are most optimistic despite the fact they are most likely to see themselves as workaholics with nearly half (45 percent) feeling optimistic about the future state of their working and personal lives.

According to the report, work life balance currently comes just third in our list of priorities when choosing a job. Enjoying work is the priority with 41 percent regarding it as the most important factor, salary (23 percent) is second on the list, while work life balance is third with only 16 percent rating this as their most important consideration when choosing a job.

Investec head of banking Wayne Preston said: “We continue to see high levels of demand being placed on professionals throughout the UK. Advancements in technology make it harder than ever to ‘switch off’ outside the office and achieve an ideal work-life balance. Life doesn’t exist solely between the hours of 9 and 5, and working in a global marketplace across multiple time zones means the pressure to be always-on is high.”