57% of the class of 1999 graduating business students in 11 countries said that attaining work/life balance is their top career goal. Price Waterhouse Coopers survey (2000)
When asked what their number one concern was about their career in 2002, 32% of respondents said Work/Life balance. This was followed by job security at 22% and competitive salary at 18%. Office Team Specialized Administrative Staffing Survey (2002)
Despite a softening economy and corporate downsizing, seventy-five percent of employers named employee retention as their top benefits objective. And 58% of these employers find that developing a benefits program that helps employees balance work-life is the most important way to retain employees. Met Life Study of Employee Benefit Trends, November (2001)
The leading factor in employees' commitment and loyalty to their employer is whether they believe that management recognizes the importance of their personal and family lives. 88% of employees say they have a hard time juggling work and life.
Companies that help employees juggle the demands of work and family will be the biggest winners in the competition for good employees. Aon Consulting's America@Work (2000) Study
Major employers increased work/family benefits in 2000, despite an economic downturn that started halfway through the year. Hewitt Associates (2001)
A 2002 survey of 501 adults showed employees spend an average 3.7 hours a week doing personal tasks online at the office. The number of employees who bring work home nights and weekends has risen to 20 million from 18 million in 2003; 51.2% of them have children under 18 at home, well above the 39% average for all U.S. households. Career Journal
42% of workers have responsibility for children less than 18 years of age. Labor Project for Working Families (2000)
Workers rate the ability to manage work and family as the most important aspect they look for in a job. Rutgers University and University of Connecticut Survey (2000)
87% of workers are seeking or have sought companies that were flexible, supportive and understanding of personal and family needs. CareerBuilder Online Survey (2000)
42% of college students and recent graduates said what they value most when making career decisions was work/life balance - more than money (26%), advancement potential (23%) or location (9%). A survey of college students and recent graduates by Jobtrak.com (2000)
Nearly 50% of all US workers feel overwhelmed by a growing number of job tasks and longer working hours. Families and Work Institute (2001)
40% of employees work overtime or bring home work with them at least once a week. Xylo Report, Shifts in Work and Home Life Boundaries (2000)
75% of employees take care of personal responsibilities while on the job. 36% say that they take care of personal responsibilities at work daily. It takes an employee nearly two hours to take care of personal business on company time. Circles (2001)
59% of women and 38% of men report they have no flexibility in determining the start and end times of their workday. 52% of women and 39% of men report they "do not have any say" about decisions about their work.
8 out of 10 working mothers report they do far more of the household chores than their spouse or partner. Heymann, S. J., The Widening Gap: Why American Working Families are in Jeopardy and What Can Be Done About It (2000)
According to a recent study of the US work force by the Families and Work Institute, the average worker spends 44 hours per week on the job. 36% of workers say they often feel completely used up at the end of the workday. 78% of married workers have spouses who are also employed. 75% of those couples have both partners working full time. 70% of all parents feel they don’t spend enough time with their children. Married fathers spend only 1.2 hours a day engaged in free time personal activities on workdays; married mothers, 0.9 hours a day. Clearly, today’s working couples have less time for their lives off the job.
In a given three month period, nearly 25% of workers will have felt stressed out often or very often, and the same amount will have felt emotionally drained after work.
The growing popularity of concierge services stems from the fact that people are overworked and need help handling daily life. Busy people want to be able to spend their free time with their loved ones, or taking care of themselves. They don’t want to be forced to spend that time running errands. "Time is the new commodity of the 21st century," notes Tara Dalrymple, founder of Busy Lizzie Lifestyle Management.
