Countries With The Best Work Life Balance: 2023 Trends

January 27, 2023

The 2023 Salary & Recruiting Trends report by Hays, which looked at data from more than 5,000 employers and 8,000-plus professionals, has found that 33% of workers consider work-life balance to be the most crucial consideration when looking for a job. Furthermore, 28% of employees would accept a lower paid job for a better work-life balance.

So how well do UK workers perform compared to other countries in finding a suitable balance between work and life?

According to the Better Life Index produced by the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) the UK performs well in many dimensions of well-being relative to other countries.

Babel Group Countries With The Best Work Life Balance

The more people work, the less time they have to spend on other activities, such as time with others, leisure activities, eating or sleeping. In the UK, full-time workers devote 62% (14.9 hours) of their day on average to personal care – eating, sleeping etc., and leisure – socialising with friends and family, hobbies, games, computer and television use, etc., which is close to the OECD average of 15 hours.

When asked to rate their general satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10, British people gave it a 6.8 grade on average, slightly higher than the OECD average of 6.7.

How do you feel your work/life balance is right now?

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