Work-life balance is improving for executives

The number of executives reporting that the balance between their working and personal lives has improved is increasing, a survey has found. There has been a 5 percent increase, up to 40 percent, in the number of executives citing improvement, while the number of companies offering work-life balance programs has grown from 8 percent in 2006 to a current 25 percent. Working hours have increased for 54 percent of the 1,134 senior executives surveyed by the Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC), but this is 5 percent less than two years ago. Peter Felix, the AESC’s president, commented, “In the last two years, employers seem to have better grasped the delicate act of helping their employees to balance personal life and work. The latest survey results suggest that the work-life gap is narrowing as companies begin to see the benefits of a healthy work-life balance.” A separate report from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills has revealed the impact an unhealthy work-life balance can have with “presenteeism”, where workers are present but unproductive, predicted to cost 1,1 billion Euro a year.