Posted on 06/25/2023 9:27:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
While some careers can be relatively stress-free, maintaining a healthy work-life balance can seem impossible for many.
The easy access to technology, blurred boundaries around work and personal time, and fear of job loss push many to work overtime, and fail to use vacation time or sick leave.
However, in some cities across the world, the situation is very different. In top-ranked locales, companies offer working professionals an opportunity to maintain a work-life balance through good healthcare, ample vacation time, and so on.
In this graphic, we use the Forbes Advisor 2023 ranking to highlight the top cities in the world that encourage work-life balance. The ranking compares data from 128 cities to form the Work-Life Balance Score, which is marked on a scale of 100. The higher the score, the better work–life balance workers in a city have. We’ve covered the top 25 in the graphic above.
Twenty of the 25 cities with the best work-life balance fall in Europe. The diverse range of cultures and lifestyles in these cities offers its residents a balance between work and personal life.
The top city on this list, with a work-life balance score of 70.5/100, is Copenhagen, Denmark. The city’s high standard of living, low unemployment rate, 52-week-long parental leave, and focus on sustainability and green spaces all contribute to the city’s top score. It also helps that the Danish lifestyle focuses on taking time for self-care and relaxation.
Healthy lifestyles along with generous vacation and parental leave policies also placed the European cities of Helsinki, Stockholm, and Oslo in the top five in this list. In fact, the average employee work week in these cities falls below 30 hours. The proportion of remote jobs in Helsinki, Finland is over 50%.
Many companies in Europe prioritize employee well-being, which has led to the emergence of a wellness culture. This culture includes practices such as remote work and mental health support.
Although Europe dominates the top 25 list, some cities in Oceania also boast of healthy work-life balance scores.
Ranked 5th on the list of cities with the best work-life balance, workers in Auckland, New Zealand, have a 26.3-hour work week on average and a year’s worth of parental leave.
Meanwhile, the cities of Brisbane (53.3), Melbourne (53.1), and Sydney (51.4) in Australia follow an average work week of 32.4 hours to 38 hours. The sunny weather in these cities also positively influences their scores.
UAE’s capital city is the only Asian city to make it to this top 25 list, and this is despite its high property prices and relatively low number of vacation days available to workers. On the flip side, the city is safe, sunny, and boasts a high quality of life.
Where Does This Data Come From?
Source: Forbes Advisor’s Work-Life Balance Index 2023
Data notes: This ranking the data from 128 cities to form the Work-Life Balance Score, which is marked on a scale of 100. The study analyzed various “Best Cities to Live In” indices, narrowing down those which had available data in the following key categories between January and February 2023. The following indices and metrics were used: World Happiness Index, Gender Inequality Index, Average working hours, minimum legal annual leave, property price to income ratio, proportion of remote working vacancies, maternity leave policies, parks and nature reserves per capita, unemployment rate, sunlight hours. Data was collected between January – Feb 2023. See the source for full details.
File under “stupid stuff”...
So... The countries that live under the umbrella of US defense and US taxpayers have the most time off...
Just wait until those Muslims start raping your women and beheading your sons... Oh wait...
“So... The countries that live under the umbrella of US defense and US taxpayers have the most time off...”
Thanks for noting that. I have pointed this out to people who hold them up as utopias.
The self-unaware suicide of the western world.
“While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”
Europeans are lazy.
BS!
All in Europe except Abu Dahbi.
Did Klaus and the WEF make this up?
So US cities don’t offer enough goof-off time (paid holidays)? That’s barking up the wrong tree. I will admit that too many US cities have accepted too much violence and lawlessness, especially in the Biden years. Are European cities so far behind?
Small town America has a lot to offer, IMO, but then I’m retired. The same probably applies in Europe. Do Europeans still have to queue up for the loo?
The diagram is misleading...the USA gives unlimited paid vacation, free medical care, free housing, free food as long as you check the right boxes. And best of all, you don’t really even have to work.
For some reason they all have money though. They vacation in Ibiza and other swanky places. I’m not sure how they do it but it does seem they have pretty good lives.
This list is crap. They don’t measure the best “work-life” balance, they’re measuring the best “life” balance with maybe some work thrown in.
I can guarantee this so-called analysis didn’t take into account any real measures of work balance - what are these cities’/countries’ measureable outputs? Are they actually producing more income/output compared to hours worked? Sure, Abu Dhabi might be high on this list, but that’s just old money investment and easy oil, not much real production. How much RnD do these cities/countries actually come out with?
Crappy work ethic does not mean you have a good work-life balance, it just means its probably overtilted towards the life half.
This notion of “work life balance” started cropping up in job interviews right around 10 years ago. At first it meant “I want three weeks of paid vacation.” Now it means that, plus “I want to work from home whenever the mood strikes me.”
This puzzled the boomers who ran the company, including myself. At first, we tried to humor them, but now if someone blurts that out during an interview, it’s a hard pass. They can go pretend to work somewhere else, and find their karmic bliss or whatever it is that they’re seeking at someone else’s expense.
And one other thing. The tic of using “around”, as in “boundaries around work”, rather than “policies at work”, or “work requirements” or other more direct phrases is a red flag as well. It’s imprecise, and downright lazy. Plus it sounds weird to most boomer’s ears.
/rant
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